written for Paige and Sheila Ockendon
This is the story of a night in 2019 and a compliment I have carried with me ever since. It’s the first time I met the woman whose wedding poem is part of this Collection. It was also the night where I allowed myself to believe that if I could alter one person’s outlook with a single poem, a great many things could then be possible.
Paige has since left the Arts Collective and moved down a different path. We still see each other, and I am reminded that some relationships are made to withstand the process of entering and leaving spaces. Paige’s kindness has left a permanent mark on my progression, and her mum really was the first person to compliment my work.
Some moments are supposed to live long in the memory.
[fifty]: / for
Footnotes; more life, note squares combined
recalling dates, soul annotates
fresh edits form, again rewrite
bowed head; shake, slang’s poor quality
not yet repeated equally.
No wall wide enough, each fail
recalled through distilled time, inept
conscience burns each one, recurs
pointless pain, brief beauty blooms
meshed interest nods; cold, distant rooms.
What do you ask, which instance baked
fresh sacrifice, alter maligned, allowing
briefest joyous shaft to manifest
the pleasure’s mine: except, in time
everything hurts, nobody understands.
Performing robot monkey girl
polishing words so hard it hurts,
what mentors heard, present absurd,
haphazard need to hunch, accrued
heart, staggered... utters; is this true?
Typed lack of trust, generic fails
persistent memory prevails, moment
hard done, staid welcome overrun,
rhyme condemns; fool, start again
apply, more care for all of them.
Earnest chapped youthful lips, perhaps
wild baring hips, stretch marks attached
future defined, online hive minds
media’s lost anthem whines
backed to the wall,
my words
or none at all.
Poem copyright S. Reeson © 2026
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For avoidance of doubt, the Author reserves the rights to this publication. No part of this publication can be utilised or reproduced for the purposes of assisting artificial intelligence technologies. © 2026
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