The Ghillie

between wakefulness and sleep
there is time

to slumber
like a beast

or stir yourself
get up
like a worthy man of wood

shooters
ducks savaged in the reeds

are fine subjects for the dream state

the reprobate
who even as he wakes

thinks not of a lover
but of his dogs

and like a sentimental creature
turns the key in the lock

salty flesh and bones
those kisses
hounds famously steal from pheasants

that came
because he dreamt them so
on feather bed
afternoons

the stalkers returned
with a sack of meat and a desire for more

 
Gareth Writer-Davies was Commended in the Prole Laureate Competition in 2015 and Specially Commended in the Welsh Open Competition, Shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Erbacce Prize in 2014, Highly Commended, Geoff Stevens Memorial Prize in 2013 and 2012. His pamphlet “Bodies”, was published this year through Indigo Dreams. Find him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/gareth.writerdavies & Bodies is available here: www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/#/gareth-writer-davies/4587920255