‘To Katerina’ by SK Grout

even in another time
I will buy too many books
and you will get tattoos of
the eclipse of the moon
etched into the skin beneath
your wrist bones;
I will drink coffee, I will drink tea
and you will bathe in the
first light of the winter sun
spread across the living room floor
like an eagle cradling flight;
I will respond to all emails,
‘Sorry it’s late’; and you will
collect juniper berries, periwinkle shells,
cry over oxidized lava rocks burnt black,
press cornflower petals into books
you will never read;
I will stay home, you will tree pose;
I will listen to Chopin’s Polonaises,
you will dream ferocious big,
think jazz blue,
lap in an endless pool of innovation.
Someone, I tell you,
will remember us. You nod: the internet,
credit history and our names in the sand.

From issue #7: autumn/winter 2018

About the Author
SK Grout grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and has lived in Frankfurt, Germany and Norwich, England. She currently lives in London. Her work appears in Landfall, Aesthetica Magazine, The Interpreter’s House, L’Éphémère Review and elsewhere. Wanderlust, eco-living, social justice, queer love stories and writing remain priorities of her life. These topics fill most of her twittering at @indeskidge.