Four responses to works in the exhibition Horse Gossip: Ruse (4)

Night-song

Between Ordeal and Wonder. All last night

I slept capacious – lulled by childish snores.

Spacious between dreams, I dreamt my mother

stumbled – piss turned to ice – and in my head

a yellow trinket tinkled down the cliff.

I woke up scared, worked, shook off the shadow

of the dream, retrieved some covers. Sonnet.

Son-let, leveret, Son long-side me – still –

Less-let – more man now – sonnet. Song-long-let,

linen to lip, sound strong, sweet song, swaddled –

Rock-a-bye Rokeby, broken down tree-top boy –

Love’s work – my work – is work that’s sticky picking.

Love is a muscle and mine’s sack slack. Locked in

with all my loves this slack-seam’s turned to tat.

Roxy Walsh

Roxy Walsh is an artist based in London.