Madeleine Lee (b. 1962)
SELECTED POEMS
blue
i
look what the choice of a chasoba
brought even if as an after thought
a quail’s egg perched on a daikon slice
a spotted trophy atop a supplicant root
when emptied inside was the palest blue
like the colour of far away skyii
when i was little they brought to me
a small nest woven of roots of fern
strands of string extensions of grass
remains of hay in a perfect circle
in it was a small egg in the palest blue
like candied almond from a sweet shopiii
at eleven the driver gave me two budgies
one turquoise blue the other bright green
granny came to plead for their release
without luck. later that night under covers
i heard a cage door creak and saw them fly
shooting stars in the smudged night
by Madeleine Lee
from synaesthesia (2008)
