Mslexia

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

New Writing

This is more than dibbing in, but not quite
rifling through. The zip defensively tooth
and nail, bites, snatching the tremor from my skin,
scratching my rouge noir. Deep breaths.
This has to be against some law.

I finger-skim the surface shapes, reading
the contents like braille, a sharp edge, a cold key,
a press of leather, a prickling of guesses.
Time washes in, pools in the notebook
I know holds your days, your
coffee mornings, keep fit classes, chemo

dates. Your variations in temperature.
I recognise your lipstick mirror by the ring
of bling round its top. I can’t open it.
I would see you. Drowning in your Youth
Dew, choking in your tissues and
mini-sudukos, half-dying

in the deeping and the laws
of nature … I see you shake your head.
‘Dive in’, you say, ‘dive in – we have no secrets
you and me.’ Already half way round
the bend I nod. Had. You mean had.

LESLEY J INGRAM, 52, spends her summers in France co-running a small gîte business. Being a passenger on long car journeys between her homes in Hereford and France offers time to focus and write for hours on end. With a routine not yet established, her writing time is constantly in flux – getting ideas in bed but then nodding off is an obstacle she’s trying to overcome. She was a runner-up in a Blue Peter Competition in the early 70s, and loves fruit and face-creams. ‘Unzipping’ is her first published work.

This poem has been selected from the Mslexia archive. For the latest on the writing world, publishing and creativity subscribe now. To sample more Mslexia features or to find out about the latest issue click here.