Alison Lock writes poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction. She is the author of two short story collections, three collections of poetry, and a novella, as well as contributing to several anthologies. Her short fiction has won/been listed in a number of competitions – The London Magazine, The Sentinel Literary Quarterly, The Tillie Olsen Award, The Carve Esoteric Prize. She has an MA in Literature Studies from York St John University. Her work focuses on the relationship of humans and the environment, connecting an inner world with an exploration of land and sea, a love of nature, through poetry and prose.
I, Elder, Animal
My weight is that of an average sheep, an orangutan,
a mountain lion, a spotted hyaena, a Timor deer,
with a full set of osseous tissue, marrow, mineral,
sinew, blood. My ribs, fixed to the strut of my spine, create
a fragile cage around my heart. As I swing through the trees,
my doe eye shifts from side to side, scanning the forest floor,
but I’m not on the look-out for a mate, nor do I wish to flash
my rippled/wrinkled canine pelt. My fertility is shed, my cat-beast
still protects my brood, scattered in a far-off place;
there’ll be no more hatchlings from my nest. My blood
thins as it flows, it slows, spots of ageing ink. My skin
is the paper on which I write the density of my bones.
Alison Lock