Published May 2015
ISBN 978-1 909404-21-2
Pamphlet: stapled
Sample poems:
The Reward
And so the day
winds to its close.
Inky fingers push
exercise books
into bulging satchels,
desk lids are slammed,
punishments (almost) forgotten.
In my homemade uniform;
turquoise gingham dress
brown blazer sporting
the Clare Terrace badge –
the only item affordable
from the school outfitter –
I slip away
to descend the mighty
Jacob’s Ladder.
Hedged by decaying buildings,
its one hundred and eleven steps
have been sculpted by the tread
of my ancestors.
And across the road from its feet,
The Library
and all the books of
The Famous Five.
Di Coffey
A Conversation
‘It’d be expensive,’ you say.
‘So what?’ I say. ‘It’d be life enhancing.’
‘There’d be no money left when I’m gone,’ you say.
‘As if that matters,’ I say. ‘And who says you’re going?’
It’d have to be big,’ you say. ‘For my wheelchair to fit in.’
‘Plus plants,’ I say. ‘Lots of plants.’
‘No lilies,’ you say. ‘Lilies kill cats.’
‘False palms then,’ I say. ‘Palms would be good.’
So a conservatory is built of plastic and glass
and neighbouring greenery filters sunlight.
And you loved it for six whole months before you died.
Di Coffey
