Steve Xerri has been a teacher, musician and designer. He was Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2017 and has been published in numerous print and online magazines. His first pamphlet Mutter/Land was recently brought out by Oystercatcher Press, from whose site it may be ordered http://www.oystercatcherpress.com
Hoverfly Observing
Suddenly there, as though
materialising in mid-air,
she settles on the damp shirt
I’m pegging to the line,
zips off to the landing-pad
of a yellow-dusted fennel
umbel and then, the touch
of her wire legs barely felt
by my human skin, alights
to turn a moment or two
on my outstretched
hand.
Benign banded
mock-wasp, air-dancer,
brief passer-through,
provoker of a little pulse
of fondness, I greet you,
feeling myself rooted
and measured by your
observing presence.
Steve Xerri
On Slicing a Quince by Steve Xerri