Eventually

I become great at darts, a phenomenon
on dart circuits, earning enough from darts
to pay for lobster rolls. I have a callous on my hands from holding the dart just just just just so.
Everyone who knows me is so confused
by my newfound precision – but I tell them –
remember that bullseye, one Sunday? That seemed
like chance? That was my future brewing. A deftness of touch I’ve always hidden. Now,
when I get to the point it’s flying at speed, and it counts.

School Run

I saw two sets of magpies twice,
and the mist lifted. We didn’t step on the cracks on the way to school. In your coat you are green and segmented, the world’s sweetest caterpillar.
You are overjoyed it’s packed lunch day,
Ham sandwiches, crisps, pieces of apple.

I press my forehead to the window and yell I LOVE YOU through the glass as I leave
breakfast club –
you crimp your hands into a heart.
How unselfconscious my love is
for you.

Vanessa obtained a MA in Poetry from MMU in 2006, but it took her a while to gain confidence in submitting work. In recent years, and particularly since writing with more intensity through the pandemic, she has been published in places such as Poetry Wales, Mom Egg Review, and Free Verse Revolution. She has had work in anthologies such as Bent Key’s ‘Ey up Again’ and the Leeds Poetry Festival anthology. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for a poem last year by Black Cat Poetry Press who will be publishing her debut pamphlet this summer. She also has a further pamphlet due out with Kelsay Books later this year.