‘Ghazal for My Father’ by Toby Cotton
Ask them if there has been some mistake.
A curtain of rain drawn over a lake.
A curtain of rain drawn over a lake.
They close the eyes of a shape on a bed.
He was buried at the centre of a beautiful lake.
He was buried at the centre of a beautiful lake.
Bulrushes are like damp eyelashes
gathering dust that would muddy a lake.
gathering dust that would muddy a lake.
An oak tree steps out of a black body bag.
A leaf comes to rest, curling up on a lake.
A leaf comes to rest, curling up on a lake.
A swan soars above the face of a farm.
It locks gazes with the eye of a lake.
It locks gazes with the eye of a lake.
Still, I stand between water and land.
An orchard is falling into a lake.
An orchard is falling into a lake.
Tonight, the stars come swim in a lake.
Ask them, Toby, if they come by mistake.
Ask them, Toby, if they come by mistake.
Toby Cotton grew up on a farm in Herefordshire and now lives in a cottage amidst Welsh mountains. He is currently pursuing a creative writing MA at the University of Aberystwyth. His poems appear or are forthcoming in Poetry Wales, Boundby, Pearl Press, Ink Sweat & Tears, Wildfire Words and Black Cat Poetry Press. He is the poetry editor at GossamerWight Literary Magazine.