Friday, April 23, 2021

Scrapheap Challenge by Kate Meyer-Currey

I wanted to be
A refuse refugee;
To throw my
Dismembered
Body parts
Of a life
Misconducted
In shame’s
Black bag
On a social scrapheap
That would prove
I was a castoff:
Too lazy and indifferent
To recycle my packaging
Into tidy categories
Rinsed out for the bin men;
But I missed collection day
Accidentally on repurpose:
It was upcycle or rot.
No bones about it
I’m no oil painting
Trash into treasure
Or priceless antique
In lockup storage
Brought to light
For millions on daytime TV
I won’t write myself off
As damaged goods
On life’s pavement.
I was built to last:
Time has worn me
Down and a little out
It’s softened those harsh edges
Through constant use,
Given a warmer patina
To my inlaid surface
My gold leaf still gleams true
I retain ornamental value:
I was once-loved:
It shows to discerning eyes
With a taste for niche
Or vintage artefacts;
Now I know my own worth
I’m content to take
My rough with my smooth:
I still have hidden compartments
No-one has discovered.

~*~
Biography:  Kate Meyer-Currey was born in 1969 and moved to Devon in 1973. A varied career in frontline settings has fuelled her interest in gritty urbanism, contrasted with a rural upbringing. Her ADHD also instils a sense of ‘other’ in her life and writing, whether folklore feminism or urban myth.

Publications: 

Chapbook County Lines (Dancing Girl Press, forthcoming 2021) 

Other poems include "Family Landscape: Colchester 1957" (Not Very Quiet, September 2020), "Invocation" (Whimsical Poet, February 2021), "Dulle Griet", "Scold’s Bridle", "Recconnaissance", (RavenCageZine, February 2021), "Stream: Timberscombe" (A River of Poems, March 2021) and "Not so starry night" (SheSpeaks, March 2021).

"Cailleach" (SageWoman, forthcoming) "Dregs" (Seinundwerden,forthcoming), "Gloves" (MacroMicroCosm, forthcoming), "Phases of the Moon" (Hags on Fire, forthcoming), "Anthem for the Contaminated" (TrainRiver, forthcoming), "Hilly Fields" (Pure Slush, forthcoming), "Scorpio rising" (Noctivagant Press, forthcoming), "Maman Brigitte" (Albany Poets, forthcoming). 

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