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Something New: Jackie Kay reads At Night

At Night

I try and slow down my breath – in for six,
Hold for two, out for six – until my breath
Takes me down to the down deeps
The bottom of an old riverbed
Where my grandmother once bathed,
To the place where my mother waits,
Where my sisters call me by my old name

And then again when sleep refuses,
And sends me back to watch for dawn
And listen to the birdsong, I cannot
Shift the feeling that someone
Has been close; some unseen
Has touched my hair as I nearly dreamed
As I nearly went, as I nearly fell off.

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Duration:

46 seconds

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