Varsity Verse: Relief
Violet‘s poet in residence returns with a particularly positive appraisal of relief
You don’t know where to look.
You sit beside him, twisting, like a screw. Steamed glasses and the chatter of the next table.
You remember his –
No
You remember his word as he left. The screw flies free.
Find me a better feeling than relief
When you wet your lips with that first pint
Pushing away the poxy work of the day
Daring to drink at last
Don’t try to tell me I’m not relieved.
You think about every gesture you’d made, every glance, every silence
Every bad joke. Catch your breath at your own foolishness
And exhale. They say –
Write, and it goes
Like a spell. You bury the words, the niggling thoughts,
You clear the mind. Weeks of ache and anger
Frustration, confusion, falsity fall back
Your mind awash, murmuring freedoms and thoughts
Relief rushing down your body, blasting away the blemishes
The torrent taking the ills with it –
then
You can wallow in the relieving waters
And lounge in the lake of No More