Julia Kaylock
New roots new soil
me, stinging with curiosity
about walls we will soon inhabit.
They have no firm place in my mind,
and I imagine a shape-shifter house
- if bricks and mortar can, actually.
I'm sure there's a science to explain it.
Bought via videolink
'I dare you, I dare you!" it breathed.
Now, all I see is muddy indifference,
it is I who must adapt.
Will those walls become a haven, or a fortress?
Will this bare plot of ground flourish or perish
under my loving touch?
Will this town become my home
or will it reject me, spit me out?
My troubled musings are irrelevant,
The engine of change has been set in motion,
Wheels plough the track we have laid,
paperwork the conductor;
a fail-safe program
for change,
baggage included
but for now,
self-preservation rules;
emotions - vacuum-packed
protective objective
Superfluous.
Contextual Essay: This poem describes a most peculiar stage in my life, involving moving to a completely new region in the middle of a health crisis. The impact of these two major events on everything I thought I knew about myself has been revealing.
Julia Kaylock is a widely published poet who also occasionally writes prose. She is also an editor and publisher at litoriapress.com. Julia co-edited (with Denise O’Hagan) anthologies of poetry Messages from the Embers: from devastation to hope (Black Quill Press, 2020) and Poetry for the Planet: an anthology of imagined futures (Litoria Press, 2021). Her memoir in verse, Child of the Clouds was published in September 2021 (Litoria Press). Julia has worked as a career coach, counsellor, adult educator, journalist and feature writer. These days, assisting other writers to tell their stories is an honour and a privilege.
Old Water Rat Publishing 