EELS

Laura McKee

early mornings in Trieste

young Freud picked out eels

from the fishermen’s catch

took them home to cut them up

all morning all afternoon

looking for balls

 

when my children were small

they found an eel on the beach

and when they ran to tell me

another boy laid claim to the eel

stood there indefatigable

with his stick and the eel

 

all his and what was unbearable

was the sadness in his eyes

Laura McKee’s first pamphlet is due in Spring 2023 with Against the Grain Press. This year she has poems in Crannog, The Poetry Review, and Tattie Zine, has been commended in the Hippocrates Prize, and long listed for The Rialto Nature and Place Competition. She is studying for an MA in Writing Poetry with the Poetry School and Newcastle University. Find her on Twitter: @LauraMcKee_fyeh