The Happiest ‘Happy Birthday’ Ever
for Lisa, Brecean
And there would be moments,
briefest interludes
when the final to you
faded on the warm breeze
and your ears
could just make out
the esses of adders
in the dance of long grass
and your mouth could see
the pink iced cake
waiting on the blue
hand-painted plate
for the cold touch
of antique silver slice.
Paul Stephenson’s debut collection Hard Drive was published by Carcanet in 2023. It was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award and Polari Book Prize. He has three earlier pamphlets: Those People (Smith/Doorstop, 2015), The Days that Followed Paris (HappenStance, 2016), and Selfie with Waterlilies (Paper Swans Press, 2017). He co-edited the ‘Europe’ issue of Magma and helps programme the Poetry in Aldeburgh festival. He lives between Brussels and Cambridge.
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