She Paints Him

Elizabeth Parker

fills in his lips with different reds
daubing the brush for a full mouth.He pales while she mixes a wash
for his skin: cream, watered pink.She tips a round brush with catchlights,dips the edge of a filbert
in thinned umber
to define lip ledges
the high line of his cheeks.She is brief with background
quick sweeps of dilute green
to hint at walls he papered.His last breath hauls rain,
warmed leather.She slides a hand beneath him,
finds his shirt soaked in heat
where his blood has pooled.Paint exhales its linseed.
Colours begin to fix.

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Elizabeth  Parker

Elizabeth Parker has published widely in magazines and has a poetry pamphlet Antinopolis. She has won or been shortlisted for a number of prizes including the Bridport, Melita Hume, Troubabour International, and Gregory O’Donoghue Awards. In Her Shambles is her first full collection.

In Her Shambles

Bridgend
Wales

“This is a radiantly-written and vigorous collection by a rising star of British poetry.”
—David Morley

“Hers is a dexterous poetry of confidently conjured atmospheres and moods, at once elusive and heady with lyric invention. She has a canny way with the repeated phrase and a technical control that’s impressive yet lightly worn . Parker’s debut is, without doubt, a fine thing to be both celebrated and admired.”
—Martin Malone

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