Guest Poem by Veronica Aaronson

Veronica Aaronson’s first collection Nothing About the Birds Is Ordinary This Morning (2018 Indigo Dreams) was put forward for the 2020 Laurel Prize. One of the poems from the collection was chosen for the Scottish Poetry Library’s Best Scottish Poems Anthology 2019. One of the poems from Emily’s Mothers (Dempsey and Windle, 2020) was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem in 2019. Telling Tales (4Word Press, 2021) was published in December and Still Arriving is to be published in October 2022 by Dempsey and Windle.

Leaving Home

You’re waving goodbye from the shore, smiling.

I want to get off the boat, but
the swell knocks me off balance and
with each heave away from you
I’m more seasick, homesick.
I call gently to you – No fuss, you’d said.
I whisper your name
to calm myself
as the distance between us widens. I try everything:
I wave your wave, smile your smile,
as if mirroring might bring us close again.

As if mirroring might bring us close again,
I wave your wave, smile your smile
as the distance between us widens. I try everything
to calm myself:
I whisper your name.
I call gently to you – No fuss, you’d said.
I’m more seasick, homesick.
with each heave away from you.
The swell knocks me off balance and
I want to get off the boat, but

you’re waving goodbye from the shore, smiling.