After Birth
I was birthed from the iron womb of the earthturned up too soon by the trawl and till of the dragline
emerged red and weeping, brushing silt from my skin
wiping clods of clay from where they caked into ear
and arse, pressed fingertips to rusty fissures and welts
where sharp edges of slate and ore scraped, bit deep
as I climbed up the steep side of the quarry after the men
had packed it in for the day I felt a rip-tug and a hot red flood
between my tender legs as the earth reminded me
I am tethered, after all, there is iron in my blood
Emma Filtness is a poet and lecturer in Creative Writing at Brunel University London. Her poems recently featured in visual poetry exhibitions with Poem Atlas and Mellom Press. Emma finds inspiration in nature and the (dark) feminine, writes much of late about her childhood hometown, migration and work, makes zines and particularly enjoys exploring found and visual poetics. Twitter: @em_filtness IG: @cultofflora
Banner Art: Steel Town Cinema, a VISPO-Glitch by Robert Frede Kenter (c) 2022. Twitter: @frede_kenter
IceFloe Press 