Spaces

Today's challenge is to write a poem that "explores a small, defined space" that is meaningful to us. The first thing that came to mind, particularly because it holds so much meaning for me, is a window. No, not just any window. The common room window in a shared flat in Edinburgh...

The open space

The open space in the far wall

Could hold one person on its sill,

It looked down on the street below

And up at the castle on the hill

Mornings presented rabbits within its frame,

Sometimes mist over the castle,

But always fresh air,

And often rain

We'd leave it open on long summer nights;

I'd watch the people walk by,

Smile and wave at those who waved up at me,

Hear the stag nights' drunken songs

In August, I'd shed tears,

Listening to the lady sing in Gaelic at the Tattoo

I'd watch in awe as half-hidden fireworks lit up the sky

And the One o'clock Gun and a lonely bagpiper

Said farewell to the sun

Oh the memories, 

That an open space in a wall could hold;

If I dared,

I'd sit and gaze out of it forever.

Andrea Vermaak