Mslexia, the magazine for women who write | www.mslexia.co.uk
New Writing
My life in souvenirs
Sue Burge
A rough terracotta pot from a cavetomb in Luxor,
disturbed bats streaming behind me as I sprint
on blistering red sand, back to the river.
A necklace of coins from the souk in Jerusalem
spreading its heaviness around my throat,
my collarbones, like a shackle, but
in less than a week the clasp has broken.
A skinny child in Guatemala sells me ceramic animals
made by his mother: a perky, spotted dog
clenching a stolen tortilla, round as the moon, in his jaws;
a bird of prehistoric proportions;
a portly pig with flowery markings;
a tortoise flattened by the weight of the world.
A blue and white cotton yukata from Kyoto
transforms me into a giant geisha.
Even though it’s autumn, I buy a waxy parasol
for blossom-viewing days, and a happiness mask.
The stone buddhahead from Vietnam
fits perfectly in my cupped palms.
I sink slowly to sit among the long shadows,
close my eyes in perfect imitation and,
with a serene half-smile,
wait for the sun to set.
SUE BURGE’s poetry has been published previously in Mslexia, in the 2005 Poetry Issue. When she’s not writing, she’s working in international marketing and teaching English at the University of East Anglia. She usually writes in bed on a free Sunday morning. She has four bicycles, no car and collects masks from around the world. She’d love to give up her day job and live by the sea.
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