Helen Heery

Jim Morrison’s Grave, Cimetière du Père-Lachaise

It’s eight ten, yet already they’re heading
towards the grave. A girl clutches flowers,
a wannabe-Jim in leather trousers
knocks back Peroni and burps, forgetting
the place he’s in. Two women send blessings
over the railing. Security glowers –
come July 3rd, there’ll be songs and guitars!
Maintenance pull up, leave their truck-engine
running. I’ll return, first thing tomorrow,
stop by to watch leaf shadow dapple-dance
across the grey stone, listen to a crow’s
solo caw from tall trees in the distance –
there’ll be minutes or seconds left to go
before somebody near breaks the silence.

Helen Heery was born in Kenya and spent her formative years there. She’s lived in Manchester all her adult life and started writing poetry just before taking early retirement. Some of her poems have appeared on the Ekphrastic Review and Allegro Poetry websites. She has also been published in Acumen, Orbis, Obsessed with Pipework and Dream Catcher print journals. She was shortlisted for both the Bridport Poetry Prize 2020 and the Hedgehog Poetry Press Crimson Spine Poetry Pamphlet Competition, 2024.