Above Us

illustration by Amy McCartney

The geese
are above us,
unzipping
the grey afternoon,
honking
to clear from their path
birds of lesser purpose.
Let us through!
they cry,
flying doctors,
healers of winter’s
glinting wounds.

Michael McHugh has made film documentaries for television as a researcher/ scriptwriter and, as a community worker, has addressed the needs of people experiencing social and economic disadvantage. Currently studying the MA in Writing Poetry at Newcastle University. Michael’s poetry has been published in anthologies by Hodder and Stoughton and by Walker Books and in Butcher’s Dog and Here Now.