They drilled holes in your skull to drain the blood
which had leaked onto the inner terrain
slowing your steps and the steps of your tongue.
Your pathways are lighter now and your tongue
is in touch again with places where blood
had spread a darkness across the terrain.
There’s a distance to go yet, more terrain,
silence at times comes like mist on your tongue,
but I’ll walk with you through shadows of blood
as brighter blood quickens terrain and tongue.
Dominic Fisher lives near the allotment he shares with sparrows and foxes in Bristol. An English language teacher for many years, he was a co-editor of Raceme magazine, is widely published, and sometimes broadcast. His second collection, A Customised Selection of Fireworks, was published by Shoestring Press in 2022. dominicfisherpoetry.co.uk Bluesky: @domfishpoet.bsky.social