Cottage. Hawkchurch, Dorset. 1989. by Katie Beswick

Cottage. Hawkchurch, Dorset. 1989

We had to whack the window latch

to climb through the open frame.

It was like the England in a story book,

behind a bluebell wood, set down a steep lane.

Blackberry bushes tangled right the way out

to the country road where horses smacked

up tarmac as they passed. All this is true.

The berry pie. I loved the way the clouds rolled back,

revealing a blue sky. And in the long yard

an old caravan covered with cobwebs

where you might invite a tramp to stay, though we never did.

I go slow in this memory. At dusk, the sun breathes a long glow.

Katie Beswick is a writer from south east London. Recent poems appear in Arc Poetry Magazine, New Verse Review, Narrative Magazine, Rattle and The Marrow International Poetry. Her chapbook is Plumstead Pram Pushers (Red Ogre Review 2024) and her hybrid work of poetry, cultural history and arts criticism is Slags on Stage (Routledge 2025).