Sue Millard lives in Cumbria, England. Her website,
http://www.jackdawebooks.co.uk/
showcases her published output of novels and non-fiction which tend to feature horses, carriage-driving, romance, history and rural life. Her poems have been published by, e.g., The Interpreter’s House, Pennine Platform, Pirene’s Fountain, Butcher’s Dog, Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, and Prole. Her 2012 collection, Ash Tree, was published by Prole:
Homecoming
The Rayburn smells of cold cast iron,
coke-dust crunches on the sooty floor
and two mugs stand varnished with last week’s tea.
Our coats hang like bats from their hooks,
stiff empty boots expect work. I unpack,
shove holiday clothes into the wash.
I forgot to empty the bedroom bin,
and the pillows smell of your hair.
I open the curtains to the evening sun
and there’s the land: crushed-velvet hills
rolled and folded with light, birch twigs shining
deep red against riverside pines, and distance
green and grey and blue forever.
Tomorrow I will clean the windows.
Sue Millard