As In Almost No Sirens
after Victoria Adukwei Bulley

when the silence is almost
and the dark is damaging your ribs

you think about the could-have-beens
the may-be-stills and your faith

in silence is tested like it’s in a tube
on a bench in a lab behind

large windows where the aircon
is fierce and everyone’s wearing

white coats and safety glasses
and your faith in silence is carried

by a hand-in-glove and held up
to the light to be seen for what it is

and it is the silence as in the silence
of almost no sirens

Claire Dyer’s poetry collections are published by Two Rivers Press, her novels by Quercus, The Dome Press and Matador. She curated Reading’s Poets’ Café from 2016 to 2021, teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London, is the SWWJ’s Council Member for Poetry and, in 2024 has both a further poetry collection, 'The Adjustments', forthcoming with Two Rivers Press and a novel, ‘What We Thought We Knew’ forthcoming with Pegasus.

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