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12th January, 2024

Friday Poem – ‘Seen’ by Rachael Clyne

Close up photograph of a person's eye. The majority of their face is in darkness other than the iris which is illuminated by a vertical strip of light.

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Seen’ by Rachael Clyne from her collection You’ll Never Be Anyone Else.

Seen My winter face stares back, dares meto meet its decline. I survey my map of mishaps, try to recall when I was last held. I look at a photo of me aged twenty: her smoulder-eyed beauty, her blank-page face; waiting for its story. Mind riddled with gaps, and gob full of opinions, this body still stands, bends and carries despite subsidence. At my retina scan today, I saw the backs of my eyes like unlaid eggs, an eye-tree of scarlet tracery. The scan man said, You still have fabulous retinas.

If you missed it, catch up with Rachael’s episode of The Seren Poetry Podcast Series 2 where she discusses You’ll Never Be Anyone Else in detail with our Deputy Publisher Sarah Johnson. Search for The Seren Poetry Podcast on your favourite podcast app to listen now.

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Related Books

This cover shows a colourful painting of a person lying on a chair, perhaps in a therapist’s office, talking to another figure who sits on a chair beside them. The text reads: You’ll Never Be Anyone Else. Rachael Clyne.

You’ll Never Be Anyone Else

Rachael Clyne

Buy now