1st place poetry
Remembering Emer by Anne Frances O'Reilly
When I think of her I see her drumming
on a beach in Mulranny head thrown back
as the light faded calling in the four directions
then invoking earth water fire air
her fearless song a shaman’s call to our souls
to remember to come back home
the way she did when in the presence of trees
leaning into them completely fiercely
sensual too park or woodland it didn’t matter
once she hugged a gnarled oak in the centre
of London a policeman staring me aghast
when she was ill I pressed my heart against
a giant Redwood for her healing not knowing
how even then she was becoming light
MMCF Writing Competition 2020