The Women of Dorich House
i. Rapunzel
The head of the girl with pigtails
has been placed halfway up
the soft crimson staircase.
Her back to the window,
she dreams of a sky she cannot see,
trees she cannot climb.
The head of a girl with pigtails
catches our eye as we ascend,
again as we go down.
Her patina gaze is unnerving:
she is girlhood without the games,
skipping without the rope.
ii. Limbo
Instead of the pupil, two staring blanks;
enclosed, encased, embalmed.
I lived once – my eyes were the colour
of those tulips over there, fading to violet.
I am no-woman, everywoman, my case
has no name. Visitors circle in hope,
check out my eyes as you have done,
notice the tulips and move on.
iii. Awakening
I saw the sculpture before the name;
body of a woman playful as a kitten.
Mid-roll in abandon, legs in freefall
stomach splayed for all to see. Sinuous,
graceful, eyes closed against the world,
she holds the apple aloft –
Mine, all mine she says
Alison Hill runs Rhythm & Muse at the Ram Jam Club in Kingston and is currently
Poet in Residence at Kingston Libraries.
Her poems have appeared in a range of magazines and anthologies and her first pamphlet collection, Peppercorn Rent, was published by Flarestack in 2008. She is one half of Speranza, with Judith Watts, and has performed her poetry at various venues from the cornerHOUSE to the Roundhouse. Alison Hill and www.rhythmandmuse.org
I am completely entranced by this sequence. I shall read them over and over again. Best wishes Becky Gethin
I am enjoying your sequence very much. My eyes keep returning to “her patina gaze is unnerving”. Thank you.
Well, now I must visit Dorich House – it’s been on my list of “must do’s” for years. It’s not far from me but somehow I’ve never got there. But this sequence and set my juices flowing – it’s wonderful. I love “girlhood without the games/skipping without the rope”. What a lot that says. It made me want to set this sculpture free. Thanks for a great read.
These are gorgeous, I loved each of them. ‘Mine all mine’ packs a real punch. I’ll never look at a Granny Smith in quite the same way again. Thanks so much for sharing such beautiful work.
Thank you for all your comments and I love the idea of setting the statue free! Dorich House is well worth a visit, for the building as well as Dora Gordine’s sculpture. Becky – we met on one of Roselle’s writing weekends in Cornwall a few years ago – good to hear from you!
I love skipping without the rope. Well done, Alison!