Cathy Whittaker
Stratford upon Avon UK
I have had poems published in many
magazines including, Under the Radar, Prole,
Interpreter’s House, Artemis, Dream Catcher and
Mslexia. I was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.
A pamphlet of my poems was longlisted for, Frosted
Fire Firsts Cheltenham Poetry Festival, and also
commended for the Geoffrey Stevens Memorial
Poetry Prize, Indigo Press. I have poems in a few
anthologies which include, #MeToo, ed: Debra Alma
and This place I know, A New anthology of Cumbrian
Poetry ed: Kim Moore, Kerry Darbishire, and Liz
Nuttall. I tutor in creative writing at an education
centre having gained a degree in Creative Writing from
Birmingham University.
Poem completed 29 April 2020
Alchemy
You wear a faded flowered Kaftan
bought from a market stall in
Walthamstow,
drag out your easel from the
cupboard under the stairs
stolen from college one part at a
time
with the help of other impoverished
artists,
select boxes, neat tubes of paint
nesting inside,
carefully saved for from the
housekeeping money,
squeeze a trial of colours on to
your palette
ochre, burnt sienna, ultramarine,
vermilion,
with a smile like a long sigh you
add linseed oil,
and then you swirl your brush across
the white canvas in a long curve of
smoky red.