The Blue of April

by Jean Atkin

I stepped into April & a bee flew laden
over the Abraham, Isaac & Jacob

& the black cat shone
like grass & drank

from the pond where broken
plates of blue

clouded the feet
of the pond skaters

& ewes ran up the stony hill

& the swallows lifted the barn
by its rafters

held the day still

Jean Atkin’s new collection How Time is in Fields is published by IDP in spring 2019. Previous publications include Not Lost Since Last Time (Oversteps Books). Her poetry has been commissioned for Radio 4, and featured on ‘Best Scottish Poems’ by the Scottish Poetry Library. Recent work appears in The Rialto, The Interpreter’s House, Magma, Lighthouse, Agenda and Ambit. She works as a poet in education and community. www.jeanatkin.com