Prehistory

Scattered objects unearthed
from the prehistory of my childhood
before writing was invented
and the alphabet was still a rhyming chant

A single dusky pink ballet shoe
stuffed worn mannikins
one disc faced in grey
a miniature fully functional typewriter
shiny plastic necklaces

Images exist of sunny afternoons
in pools or by rivers
I carry a floating balloon
with a cardboard gilded fish drifting inside
wear short cotton dresses
long hair scooped up into ornate shapes

From this evidence
a narrative may be reconstructed
of a cherished daughter

We know better you and I

Kim Whysall-Hammond grew up in London in a working-class family, but now lives deep in the English countryside. She obtained a degree in Astronomy from UCL and has worked in both Climate Research and Telecommunications. A late comer to publishing poems, her poetry has appeared in American Diversity Report, Alchemy Spoon, Amsterdam Quarterly, London Grip, North of Oxford, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Marble Poetry, Crannóg and others. Her speculative poetry has appeared in Andromeda Spaceways, Eternal Haunted Summer, Frozen Wavelets, Kaleidotrope, On Spec, Silver Blade and Star*line. She also has poems in anthologies from Palewell Press, Wild Pressed Books, Milk and Cake Press, Experiments in Fiction and Brigids Gate Press. Find more of her work at https://thecheesesellerswife.wordpress.com/