Fleur Adcock

Inside my head I can see it clearly,
but my fingers won’t do what I tell them.

My favourite meal is mashed potatoes,
with gravy or with a buried treasure
of butter to find.

It turns out to be a round patch
of scribble. It looks more like the world.

turkey minced in some kind of sauce –

We liked Mummy, too – and Daddy, of course –
but they weren’t there. You can’t have everything.

Later, when I was eleven or so,
she came with presents for Christmas. Mine
was The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
I found it totally seductive.

I tore myself away from writing ‘Margaret’
to save her life.

You could mould anything.

all colours the most intense and shiny.

I fashioned a perfect snowdrop, on a stiff wire –
bell cup, green dots.