DANICA OGNJENOVIC
Two Poems
South
So I fly South and land outside your door
and because this is a dream
(no finger to buzz me in)
I just sit in my usual spot
with the dog’s toys
and a chew–stick on the sofa.
You and me, my brother,
we were years in the making
a non-stop double-yellow
road to this hidden junction.
Tonight we walk the dog
past the Seaman’s Hostel
and that sphinx of a church –
the one we can see
from the train after dark
its clock-face the colour
of a full camembert moon.
Later, and the Docklands
high–rise blocks
are plugged in for the night,
soft focus maisonettes
low-rise shadows
that border Bartlett Park
and Limehouse Cut.
Do you remember,
after the funeral party left
(all that food to eat and the pendulum
swinging from tears to denial)
we played music so loud
it almost hurt?
And we danced to let it loose.
To grieve for your dead man.
Who else but me and you?
Let’s grab the dog and dance.
Lockdown Cycle, Spring to Winter 2020
i
Cherry Trees
A windmill propels the sky
blades that beat the clouds
from west to east, while the orchard
good to set sail, releases every petal.
ii
Nautilus
The spine of a shell
a staircase worn to its last
spiral steps by the sea.
A spindle laid bare
no wheel turning.
The sound of the waves inside
now free. Listen.
iii
Mirror World
This day of splintered mirrors
of distant sights and run-down clocks
should allow for rest
but though the streets are empty
wind-pushed, everything is risk.
We might be steerage
or business class. Our papers
don’t tell us which.
iv
Song of the Earth
I dig and wait for tendrils, toadstools
to take the raw pit of the stomach and mulch it
deep. There is a slurry of feeling, a smokey peat
in life. All grist, all grit, all oyster-disrupter,
the no-one saw it coming of our time.
Danica Ognjenovic was born in London. Her father was originally from Croatia. She studied at York University (English and Related Literature) and has been writing poems for about ten years. She has variously worked as an arts journalist, gallery technician, for a theatre company, a contemporary dance company and a classical Indian dance organisation. Placed in National Poetry Competition (UK) 2013, Rialto, Abridged, The Moth, Honest Ulsterman. Currently emerging from lockdown in North Yorkshire.