Vasiliki Albedo
Lavender blooms thin,
its stems balletic in the vase.
Every day I bless
my cats. May they be healthy
and happy and safe.
Another earthquake could upset
the city and its strays.
I was twelve when the big one
hit Athens and all I could think
was Sparky trembling
by the cracked pane.
My mother was delivering
my brother and about to
forever split town.
Yesterday chopping salad
I sliced through a slug
sheltered in the tight
lettuce heart. I let
water carry its mass
into the drain’s dark.
What is the opposite of yellow?
my little niece asks.
The gorse declares
its shrivelled buds alive
this Wednesday afternoon
so blue it should be out,
it should be dancing.
Vasiliki Albedo’s poems have recently appeared in The Poetry Review, Poetry London, Oxford Poetry and elsewhere. She won The Poetry Society’s 2022 Stanza competition. Her two prize-winning pamphlets are Fire in the Oubliette (Live Canon) and Arcadia (Poetry international).
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