Dr Greta Sykes – Sappho Moon

Profil Dr Greta Sykes Live Encounters Poetry & Writing May 2017Download PDF Here

Sappho Moon, 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.


Sappho moon

Fennel stems emerald green
Glisten in her light,
Tonight she is so near and urgent,
Holds her rounded moon cheek
Close to my garden
a tender glow
Like an embrace
envelops
the shapes of plants:
pennisetum flowers golden brushes
Tickle my arm,
Silvery artemisia
Brush my leg.
the stone bench beckons,
a soft breeze nods the heads of dried up sunflowers,
orange Chinese lanterns
the yukka towers graphically
into the darkening sky.
Men call her beaver moon,
But I prefer her Sappho moon,
A promise of love and poetry
Perhaps of peace.


Good deaths and bad deaths

Aleppo – town of bad deaths
Town of rebel fighters fighting for freedom
Western version,
Aleppo – Assad’s town, an army using civilians
As human shields, humanitarian crisis
Town of bad deaths,
Aleppo – town of barrel bombs
That kill freedom fighting rebels, Aleppo
Bad town, bad deaths.

Mosul – town of good deaths,
Town of US freedom army who
Kill civilians in defence of freedom,
collateral damage of civilian deaths
are not a humanitarian crisis,
Mosul –  town of good bombs,
That tyrannise grateful women, children
For they bring Western war plans
And betrayal,
Mosul,  good town, good deaths.


© Dr Greta Sykes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.