Mslexia

Mslexia, the magazine for women who write | www.mslexia.co.uk

New Writing

That afternoon we stood in the orchard
under a ceiling of opening flowers –
you’d brought a swarm of bees from Pensilva

On the bliss of their buzzing intensity flowed
a thorough humming
a May song hefting into the hive

You showed me the queen
knew by her soft golden colour
she’d be gentle easy to find With your open
hand urging them forward you walked the bees in

Late afternoon when the last one
trickled over the threshold you took my hand
walked me into your house

and under the waxy candlelit ceiling
your touch on my skin was full of the day
honeyed winged singing

ROZ QUILLAN CHANDLER, 67, writes about 30 hours a week, either on a long workbench with a view of the sea or secluded in her summer house. Retired and loving it, most of her activities lead back to writing, unless cutting the grass – which never stops growing – takes priority. Fellow poets at the Falmouth Poetry Group help inspire her; coffee, organic Ecuadorian chocolate and alcohol-free Merlot are listed among her indulgences. But her creativity is not limited to words: she has designed and built her own wooden eco-friendly house. ‘Honey Guide’ is her first published poem.

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