Two Poems by Kathryn O'Driscoll

Nesting

Bones dislocate from rawened sockets
as the perception of self is wrenched and wrecked aside.
Rib-bones snap and contract sharply concave:
they form a brackenel nest of the interlocking twig fingers
of mothers, of sisters, of brothers and starlight –
the defences set in sticks, in stones, in love, bend
and readjust to allow the shards of cartilage to slip inside
and pierce through a tough exterior, to the heart of the matter.
Dislocate everything and reassemble it differently
because we, ( I ), we, see what you might not;
you’re fucking beautiful.

~*~

An Elegy, A Eulogy

My body is a slow motion funeral. 

It is the shrieks of loss, echoing in a church's vaulted ceilings.

It is the reverberation in the votives flickering. 

It is stained glass liquifying in the sun

and dripping out of its frames,

tearfuls down the ledges. 

My body is an elegy, a eulogy, 

a goodbye long overdue. 

My body is a roof beam coming down on the whole damn place,

hymns and all. 

~*~

Biography:  Kathryn O'Driscoll is a spoken word poet, writer and activist from Bath who talks openly about her disability and mental health in her wide range of poems. Aside from performing poetry across the South West; she’s also a Bristol slam champion who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, at multiple UK National competitions and on BBC Radio Bristol. She has a first class degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.