Stopwatch by Em Power
Arts Richmond
Online - 14 September 2020

there are
not enough
seconds in
the day if i
could halt
their slow
ceaseless
march and
freeze the earth
in its rotation
i would
i would
sleep open
eyed until i
melted into
the ground
sank beneath
the grass
the crust
the crevices the mantle
the core
then i’d
come up.
i’d watch
every movie
that’s ever
moved i’d
paint my room
every colour
in existence
i’d run and
run i’d nurse
broken birds
back to health
i’d become
a jewel thief
i’d become a violinist
i’d write a novel about hangnails
i’d pose the public like action figures
i’d re-enact
romeo + juliet
with gerbils
learn the secret
to immortality
then unlearn
it out of boredom
sleep without
guilt. sleep some
more.
but the hands
keep turning.
the hands.
round and
round and
round and
round.
from ABOUT TIME, the 2019 anthology of shortlisted entries from The Roger McGough Poetry Prize. Copies of this Anthology can be purchased for £5 including P&P from Arts Richmond.
Stopwatch by Em Power
EGM and AGM
Wednesday 2 December 2020, 19:30
Online via Zoom
Young Writers Festival Competition
The Roger McGough Annual Poetry Prize 2020
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