Ilse Pedler

Heartbeat

It began slowly
like jam
red clotted jam
the suspense of that first drop
sliding down the outside of the jar 

but this was inside

blood slubbing 
in thick strands
taking with it
beginnings —    

a moment
enough to seize the lungs
forcing a pause
in their relentless inflating
enough to snatch a gasp
high up in the throat,
for the stomach to sound 
its cramped depths 
and the heart — 
to send the heart 
skittering to every corner
in search of its
recent echo.

Ilse Pedler has had poems published in Magma, Stand, The Compass, as well as several anthologies. Her pamphlet, The Dogs That Chase Bicycle Wheels, won the 2015 Mslexia Pamphlet competition. She was shortlisted in the National Poetry Competition in 2018. She is the poet in residence at Sidmouth Folk Festival and works as a veterinary surgeon in Saffron Walden.