by Catherine Graham

Summer Auction, Southampton.


Mr. Quicktongue holds her.
Daddy’s finger. Mine.

Sleeping eyes, thicker curls.
Red crayola lips and nails.

XXXXXForgotten, find her.
Lift her, gently.
Skin, lime-speckled.
Caked-eyes, empty.

Catherine Graham is the author of the critically acclaimed chapbook The Watch (reviewed in TDR). She returned to her native Canada in 2000 after living in Northern Ireland for many years where she completed an M.A. in Creative Writing in Poetry. Her poems have been anthologized, broadcasted on BBC Radio Ulster and have appeared in such literary journals as The Fiddlehead, Poetry Ireland Review, The Danforth Review and Books Ireland. Catherine is also included in The White Page / An Bhileog Bhan: Twentieth Century Irish Women Poets. A Burlington teacher and workshop leader, Catherine is the creator of Words@work, a communications seminar for businesses. Insomniac Press will be publishing Catherine's first full poetry collection, Pupa, fall 2003. Visit Catherine's website: www.catherinegraham.com.