Love Song II
The children are away.
Light slants in
on the upstairs landing,
bright as the end of the world.
New daffodils,
closed tight last night, have burst:
ruffled, exuberant,
shouting in orange and white.
Some are a day behind,
half-inclining,
saffron centres
silkily translucent.
Tea to take back upstairs:
absurdly tannic,
strong as death,
strong as a seal on the heart.
Nowhere for us to be
for at least an hour.
No need to get up
unless we’re hungry.
Esther Lay is a priest, poet, and classical singer living in Oxfordshire. She is the winner of the 2025 East Riding Festival of Words Poetry Prize (earning a Forward Prize nomination) and the 2024 Write By The Sea Poetry Prize. This year she placed joint second (with herself) with two poems in the Write Out Loud Competition, judged by Neil Astley, was highly commended in the Four Faced Liar Prize and Ware Poets Competition, and was shortlisted for the Plaza Prizes, Winchester Poetry Prize, New Writers, and Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year. She has recent work in Waxed Lemon, Ghost Furniture Catalogue, Grain Magazine, Thimble Lit Mag, Rust & Moth, Alchemy Spoon, and 14 Magazine, and forthcoming work in Four Faced Liar. estherlay.com