Jackie Kay Poems

How they strut about, people in love,
How tall they grow, pleased with themselves,
Their hair, glossy, their skin shining.
They don't remember who they have been.
...

I did not promise
to stay with you till death do us part, or
anything like that,
...

When I got home
I went out into the garden
Liking it when the frost bit
...

I always wanted to give birth
Do that incredible natural thing
That women do-I nearly broke down
...

If ye went tae the tapmost hill, Fiere
Whaur we used tae clamb as girls,
Ye'd see the snow the day, Fiere,
Settling on the hills.
...

My mum is on a high bed next to sad chrysanthemums.
‘Don't bring flowers, they only wilt and die.'
I am scared my mum is going to die
on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums.
...

1
She is on the second floor of a tenement.
From her front room window you see the cemetery.
...

No one makes soup like my Grandpa's,
with its diced carrots the perfect size
and its diced potatoes the perfect size
and its wee soft bits -
...

Let's blether about doors.
Revolving doors and sliding doors;

Half-opened, half-closed:
The door with your name on it,
...

I am only nineteen
My whole life is changing

Tonight I see her
Shuttered eyes in my dreams
...