Lament

I set my heart on a wave in the Dyfi
watched it drift over sandbanks into reeds
and there an infant it nestled
in a cradle of goose down and leaves

and I turned my back on the Dyfi
its wildfowl, their meandering skein
and made my way to the city
with its hollow and blind-black dreams.

One day I’ll row back up the Dyfi
to see if my heart still breathes;
I’ll comb its red hair and my longing
to lullaby it on my knees

and if it’s no longer there in the Dyfi
plucked out by Elffin’s thieves 
life steal from me, wane my belonging
lay me in goose down and leave.

Published in The Dawntreader, Issue 56, 2021