Poem – In Time (By Cathy Bryant)

When we touch tentatively, kiss gently,

vow to understand and love better,

feel so much passionate remorse that

we pour it out in streams of tears and caresses,

apologise for our respective actions

in the fight, and put things right,

the intense feeling of peace – that inner

this is right. this is the essence of life,

how it should be

feels so joyful yet calm, I wonder and mourn

for the parts of ourselves that choose war.

Love taught me to do better, and I do;

and that is the saving grace of humanity,

that peace is a skill; it can be learned.

We hear the explosion, see the bridge collapse

in full colour and sound on TV or the Internet

but few are there to see the patient ones,

quietly, over time, using bricks and mortar,

rebuilding together, remembering both to talk

and to be silent.

Cathy Bryant worked as a life model, civil servant and childminder before becoming a professional writer. She has won fourteen literary awards, and her work has appeared in over 200 publications.

Cathy has had two poetry collections published: Contains Strong Language and Scenes of a Sexual Nature (Puppywolf, 2010) and Look at All the Women (Mother’s Milk, 2014). She co-edited Best of Manchester Poets vols. 1-3, and her first novel is out in the end of 2015: Pride and Regicide (Crooked Cat).

See more at www.cathybryant.co.uk and find Cathy’s monthly listings for financially-challenged writers at www.compsandcalls.com