Natalie Crick – Five Poems

Romance

The moon is an enormous egg,
Cracked and about to spill.

It howls in our ears,
Swelling until it breaks.

You are always passionate
In the dead of night.

I bit into the Rose and
There were crushed buds everywhere,

Felt the dampness of petals;
Soft little bloody mouths

Puckered at my breasts as
The last declaration of love in this world.

Seascape

Staring at fog, the ocean is
Ghostly below the cliff,
Fallen without

End, all sound entombed,
Pearly air churning.
Seagulls

Perch on their lofty branches
Peering down
To find nothing.

Come night, cold
Full moon shines,
Crisp banks aglow.

We walk through
Faint dusk,
Blindly feeling our way

Past drifts piled high.
Chilled white ravines
Reflect our lamps.

A Gift of Fruit

I am waiting in shadow.
Shy.
Close enough to touch

Round syrup-sweet berries,
Lush flushed strawberries,
Peaches bursting open

Mint bruised, perfumed for lips.

Hummingbirds gather,
Treacle oils of summer
Lingering on the tongue,

Splashes of crimson
Spilling over lingonberries,
Pooling amber juices.

Fire

Will spill together,
Seethe and flare,

The warmth of your heart,
Crimson streaks
Of sunset, an orchestra,
A painting.
Your eyes are full of misery
When flame devours the log,
Until one dark crack
In the centre

Cools, and the two halves
Fall to cinders,
A dry leaf free in the wind,
A brown field alive with decay.

The Lady and the Dandelion

In Winter,
Lilacs rise weakly

Laden with snow.
Her fingertips are nimble,

Lips whispering of
Moon flowers,

The languid bend in the river,
Damp, ripe wind through tall grass.

Hope hums inside:
A busy hive of bees.

She is fearful,
Waiting for the sting,

Eyes fixed on the sun,
Kneading the day’s heat

Into flame. The air
Has been leafed gold
And electric,
The Earth fallen out of sight,

Leaving a dandelion
Half-wished away.

Natalie Crick, from Newcastle in the UK, has found delight in writing all of her life and first began writing when she was a very young girl. She graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature and plans to pursue an MA at Newcastle this year. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in a range of journals and magazines including Rust and Moth, The Chiron Review, Ink in Thirds, Interpreters House and The Penwood Review.