Naming myself as a poet
involves digging up the dead women in my family
shaking their hollow bones till the wedding rings come off
peering into the dirty skulls
kissing the noseless smiling faces
singing to them Listen, I’m going to revive you
Lazarus women of my blood and bones
I’ll come home
dog-tired and dirty from clawing the graves
stare in the mirror
say Mary Pritchard
say Joyce Postance
say Hilary Randle
say Sydney Mokler
say Margaret Hamer
say Hazel Pritchard
say Margaret Mokler
say my own name Madeleine in mourning Madeleine in frightened whispers Madeleine
in destruction Madeleine born and already gone Madeleine magicking the meat and marrow of Mary of Joyce of Hilary of Sydney of Hazel of Margarets
spread the blood the spit the amniotic fluid wide in circles on the page
my page
that fertile land on which we all will meet again
Madeleine Heyworth is based in Cheshire, UK and works as a copywriter. She is currently completing her MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in The Everyday Magazine, Acropolis Journal, Paper Crow Lit, Swim Press and Identity Theory. She can be found on X and Instagram @mheyworthpoet.
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