Memory

the lake is empty

child-voice silent
ache-tinnitus
reverberate

here

path-trod blistered feet stop
standing is blessing
not-forward not-back
momentum of breath and palms

blood-flow pooling
there is harm
and break

a beginning-end
and endless again

Harley J. Ryley is a poet living in Sheffield, UK. Her work has been featured in Route 57 and the digital publication For the Love of, as well as on BBC Radio Sheffield. Her work is inspired by the her perception of relationships between accumulated 'things', selfhood and trauma. Harley is currently studying an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Sheffield.