Dr Greta Sykes – Razor Blades

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Razor Blades, poems by Dr Greta Sykes

Poet, writer and artist Greta Sykes has published her work in many anthologies. She is a member of London Voices Poetry Group and also produces art work for them. Her new volume of poetry called ‘The Shipping News and Other Poems’ came out in August 2016. The German translation of her book ‘Under charred skies’ has now been published in Germany under the title ‘Unter verbranntem Himmel’ by Eulenspiegel Verlag. She is the chair of the Socialist History Society and has organised joint poetry events for them at the Poetry Café. She is a trained child psychologist and has taught at the Institute of Education, London University, where she is now an associate researcher. Her Particular focus is now on women’s emancipation and antiquity.

Twitter: @g4gaia.      Facebook.com/greta.sykes.      German Wikipedia: Greta Sykes.


Razor blades

Snippets of Russian,
German, Italian, bon giorno,
Mingle with sand in my ears, my toes, my hands,
the salt of the sea, the earth,
the ochre sediment
sink into vertebrae, neurons, consciousness.

I feel sky and peace,
But fear their cry for arms,
The military-industrial elite:
The tyranny of our lives.

On the sun drenched beach we lie and gather
Words and phrases, forge them into
Scalpels, lancets and razor blades
To cut their lies to shreds.


Once more

Once more I gaze at the fractal geometry
Of the forested hills,
Absorb their endlessness.

Once more I ponder the red marble,
Green serpentine rock and
Sandstone cliffs that nature made.

Once more I follow the seagulls flight
With my eyes to learn about freedom,
Wingspans and weightlessness.

Once more I study the pines that cling to the rock,
Myriads of roots holding tight,
communicating with other roots, the earth,
A lesson in survival and desire.

Once more I need to meditate how
Seagulls’ weightlessness, rocks and forests live.
The hidden shudder of creation
Blinks in the turquoise wave of the sea.


© Dr Greta Sykes

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