snapshot

right now

she is dancing in her orange kitchen
like she hasn’t a care in the world
see how she freestyles sunshine 
is spinning rainbows   tiptoes barefoot gold
smiles as she dances, like no-one is watching

right now

she is cranking it up loud   louder   loudest
is singing along, makes up the words
she doesn’t know, plays air guitar 
like a virtuoso, holds the note…. waits….
swoops whoops stomps stomps stomps
when the beat drops in, dark and phat and dirty

right now

she’s a spliff clasped in one hand
cider in the other
empty bottle on the worktop
four cooling, waiting in the fridge
silver jewellery catching the light
as sun pours in through evening window

right now

if you could paint a picture of perfection
of contentment, full and sated, a woman
at ease with herself and the world
you might choose to pick up your brush
capture this

right now

she can believe the days
when she is stretched so thin
when we are stretched so thin
when her head is visited by old ghosts
and cross-hatch scars itch beneath her sleeves
those days are gone forever

right now

she’s turned away from everything 
melting icecaps, forests burning 
shut down the laptop, switched off the news
silenced the trolls and those who choose
to see tearing others down as some kind of validation
knock yourselves out – her life is, will be, a celebration

right now 

she can breathe
she can dance
she can dream

right now 

there is this moment
there is nothing but this moment

she is dancing in her orange kitchen
smiling as she dances,

				                      and this is love


© Steve Pottinger. 7 Mar 2021

Steve Pottinger is a poet, author, and workshop facilitator, and a founding member of Wolverhampton arts collective ‘Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists’.

His work has featured in poetry magazines and anthologies and he is a regular contributor to online poetry platforms. He has performed at Ledbury and StAnza poetry festivals and the Edinburgh Free Fringe, and in venues across the country, from Penzance to Orkney.

His sixth volume of poems, ‘thirty-one small acts of love and resistance’, was published by Ignite Books. He has also written three punk autobiographies, including ‘City Baby’ (the story of Ross Lomas, bassist with Birmingham punk legends GBH for over 30 years).