GIRL
for Ali, aged fifteen
You're all prickles today
a native pyracantha
snapping and wrapping
the house in a barbed-wire
mantle.
There are tacks
underfoot, an armoury
of weapons
at the back door
a legacy of lead.
Your mouth
is a live coat hanger
a twist of wire firing
into unexpected
Alexander Calder shapes.
Despite the jabs
the flicks and flays
all the elements are here
for a mobile shape
of extraordinary aesthetic.
When winds thrash
and sharp shards fly
there can be no denying
the whole damned gorgeous
truth of you.
CB
Girl appears in my collection Open Book - Poetry & Images , published by Steele Roberts (2007).
Ali is now twenty-five. We weathered some spectacular teenage storms and, yes, she's gorgeous!
