‘On Your Birthday’ by Stephanie Conn

The boatman will return at two. For now,
I am alone on this sponge sprung island,
finding my way over slate and shingle,
following the sand track to the graveyard.
There is a small gap in the low stone wall –
did a gate once fill the space I pass through?
This soft land is falling in on itself.
Beside stone markers, headstones tilt into
each other, making it difficult to read
the chiselled details of my ancestors.
Above a labyrinth of rabbit holes,
I wonder where the fur-lined tunnels lead,
trace names and dates with shaking fingers,
snag skin – you did not get to be this old.

From issue #2: spring/summer 2016

About the Author
Stephanie Conn is an award-winning poet. Her poetry collections The Woman on the Other Side (2016) and Island (2018) are published by Doire Press. Her pamphlet Copeland’s Daughter (2016) is published by Smith/Doorstep. She is currently a PhD researcher at Ulster University.