Chloe Balcomb

NEIGHBOURS 

In September they collected seeds, percussed
them into envelopes. Once the weather warmed,   
they’d shuck them into compost, arrange the trays
like sleeping siblings in his lean-to greenhouse. 

In May he crossed the fields, gathered clouds
of sphagnum  moss from the banks of the Bourne.
She taught him how to fleece the baskets, to weave
each plug into a place where it would flourish. 

After the divorce, when a harsh frost settled,
she asked no questions. Always had tea for him,
a clutch of fairy cakes, a biscuit for the dog.  

She knew about perennials. How some
survive debridement. Inertia. Darkness.
Germinate suddenly after a long cold spell.

Chloe Balcomb is a Yorkshire based writer whose recent publications in journals and online include, Butcher’s Dog, Silver Birch Press, And Other Poems, and Under the Radar. Her circus poetry ‘Female Funambulists’, appeared at the 2018 Wirksworth and Off the Shelf Festivals. Chloe’s pamphlet collection with Green Bottle Press is due out in 2019. chloebalcombwrite.com