Braid of Time by Ilona Lowe

I keep time by the knot of my braid

The longer my fingers weave, the more I've changed

The lands prove vast and fruitful,

Perhaps even more than l’d hoped for at times

Through ashes and letters I've realized the third dimension;

Space, and the quantum implications of It.

Yellowed molars smile at me in the braid of time, and I smile back -

Holding the strain of tears deep in my throat.

I've made myself a kitchen mouse,

Hiding in the walls until the footsteps subside

Yet somehow

I'm unsafe in the silence too.

I wish I could talk loud enough to be heard over the rivers and hills.

I wish you were with me.

The you of many names, and the me of only one.

The same it has been for far too many knots.

Ilona Lowe is an author and visual artist. She is a 23 year old immigrant living in the UK. Her work has been featured in Letters From Milena Magazine, and Dirty Dykes Magazine. She has been shortlisted for the ‘Then and Now’ TogetherInTheUk poetry prize.