Figure of Loss


2023
Woodblock Print (Water-based ink), Risograph
on mulberry paper

      Grandad (5.16) 

     Purple, silk-cut 100s
    A pack a day,
    1000 packs since she died. 

    Always in that chair
    As if death would move on 
    If he went out for longer than a smoke. 

    The twill sofa covers stink of it - 
    His wishing for an end
    Blisters the linoleum in the kitchen 

    Beneath groceries rotting in the fridge 
    And ready-made meals
    Calcified against freezer walls 

    Eyes ridden with cataracts, ears 
    He let fail

           While you’re waiting to die,
           I’m drying off my boots at the door

           Just let me in.





Exhibited in: The Ráth Survives, Alphabet Soup.