Hannah Linden

Awakening

In the reanimated body I see the beginning
of my life as it could be, patched
eloquence of the sum of parts—the featherstitch

edges along the seams of parent. I’ve listened
to my children create a monster out of projections.
I have done the same. We are the dream

of more than is possible. A candle inside a dome
burns brighter. I am flinging out as much light
as I can from the match-spark of my childhood.

Losses have taught me to portion love
into manageable pieces of memory. I have forgotten
more than I can bear. Our monsters stride out

into the frozen wastes, try to fashion something
like love. I hope that for every failed attempt,
there is brilliance before the petal of self falls.

Hannah Linden is neurodivergent and queer and lives in ramshackle social housing in Devon, UK. Her most recent awards include 1st prize Cafe Writers Poetry Competition 2021, Highly Commended Wales Poetry Award 2021, and 2nd Prize Leeds Peace Poetry Prize 2024. She is published widely in Acumen, Atrium, Blackbox Manifold, Iambapoet, Lighthouse, Magma, New Welsh Review, Poetry Wales, Setumag, Shearsman, Stanchion, Stand, Tears in the Fence, The Rialto, Under the Radar etc. Her debut pamphlet, The Beautiful Open Sky, (V. Press) was shortlisted for the Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet 2023. X: @hannahl1n