park yourself here
on a bench meant
only for you.
sit while the world crazies on.
sit still as your mind shifts
to neutral and every scent
from worked earth to early lilac
tingles across your tongue.
sit with your eyes shut
and your ears wide to the pwee
and coo and chak-chak
of bird-babel, to windswell
through treetops, murmuring grasses.
you are here
on the one bench that exists
in this infinite pinprick universe.
the bench accepts your presence,
logs one more memory.
Hilaire
Hilaire was poet-in-residence at Thrive Battersea 2017. She has been published in magazines such as Brittle Star, ARTEMISpoetry and South Bank Poetry, and in three anthologies from The Emma Press. London Undercurrents poetry project, co-founded with Joolz Sparkes, was recently awarded Arts Council research and development funding.
