BasketLogin Donate
Navigation
  • About
    • The Trust & Cyprus Well
    • A Short Film
    • Who We Are
    • About Cyprus Well
    • About Charles Causley
    • Causley’s Launceston
    • A (Partial) Bibliography
  • Competition
  • What’s on
    • Horror Writing Workshop
    • Ghostly Town Walk of Launceston
    • Causley Fun Palace
  • News
  • Blog
  • The Work We Do
    • Poetry Competitions
    • Ambassadors
    • Events & Workshops
    • Residencies
    • Centenary 2017
  • Support Us
    • Ways to support us
    • Work With Us
    • Donate
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Become a Member
  • £0.00

The Maker The Charles Causley Literary Blog

Home Blog Molly Twomey: Knives We Used on Our Skin

Molly Twomey: Knives We Used on Our Skin

June 15, 2022

Knives We Used on Our Skin

 

Who did we imagine would pick up our filters,

our shattered glass? Our minds were closed buds.

 

In the oaks and pines by the old icehouse

we sparked firelighters, threw back naggins,

 

cans of cherry cider. We sucked Bensons and mints,

had our first kiss, our last smoke.

 

What did we know of a beer cap in a vixen’s throat

or the stomach of a hare gagged with cigarette butts?

 

All we knew for sure was if we drank enough

we could voice the panic attacks we had before maths,

 

the mantras that our bodies were too big, too small,

too riddled with spots. We confessed

 

that we watched our mothers dice carrots

with the knives we used on our skin and babysat kids

 

by the river we dreamt of walking into.

Here we uncapped what was held so tightly

 

like a sluice trap after so many winters.

Our tense jaws, our cramped hearts, were held

 

by the earth’s nerves, those roots and vines

that quietly lowered the pressure of our blood.

 

 ‘Knives We Used on Our Skin’ won the second place prize of our 2021 International Poetry Competition. 

Related Posts

Ten Tips to get you Reading More

September 25, 2023

RUPERT i.m. Charles Causley

September 19, 2023

A Guide to Causley’s Poems for Beginners  

September 18, 2023

Literature, Place, and Belonging

September 18, 2023

September Musings by Sue Wallace-Shaddad

September 11, 2023

Dame Daphne meets Lady Daphne

September 1, 2023
  • Next Post
  • Previous Post
Preserving Causley's legacy by creating opportunities for writers, artists, and communities to develop and connect through a programme of residencies, competitions and events.

Newsletter Signup

Subscribe to the Charles Causley Trust and receive notifications of news & events.

Follow Us

Follow us for all the latest news and information

Support The Charles Causley Trust

Donate
Copyright © 2023 The Charles Causley Trust, all rights reserved. Registered in England and Wales Registered Charity: 1152107. Privacy Policy. Terms & Conditions.
Responsive website by Matrix.

Basket

No products in the basket.