Tuesday Poem: In That Year, by Kim Moore

In That Year

by Kim Moore

And in that year my body was a pillar of smoke
and even his hands could not hold me.

And in that year my mind was an empty table
and he laid his thoughts down like dishes of plenty.

And in that year my heart was the old monument,
the folly, and no use could be found for it.

And in that year my tongue spoke the language
of insects and not even my father knew me.

And in that year I waited for the horses
but they only shifted their feet in the darkness.

And in that year I imagined a vain thing;
I believed that the world would come for me.

And in that year I gave up on all the things
I was promised and left myself to sadness.

And then that year lay down like a path
and I walked it, I walked it, I walk it.


Copyright Kim Moore
First Published in Poetry News
from The Art of Falling
to be published by Seren in 2015


There are some poems you read and feel a moment of recognition because there's a kind of visceral crunch as they connect with your own experience.  This is one of those poems. I particularly love the final couplet which has been true for me.  I'm still walking it.

Kim Moore is an award-winning poet living in Cumbria in the north of England where she is a brass music teacher. Her first pamphlet, If We Could Speak Like Wolves,  was chosen by Carole Ann Duffy for the Poetry Business award in 2012 and also selected as one of The Independent's books of the year.   Kim blogs here.

About 'In That Year' - Kim Moore comments: "This poem is from a sequence of poems exploring domestic violence.  The sequence will be in my first full length collection "The Art of Falling" which will be published by Seren in 2015."

If We Could Speak Like Wolves is published by Smith/Doorstop and is available both in paperback and in e-book format from the publisher and from Amazon.

You can find Kim and more of her poetry on Wordpress at http://kimmoorepoet.wordpress.com/

The Tuesday Poets post great poetry from all over the world every Tuesday.  If you would like to see what other Tuesday Poets are posting today, please hop over to the Tuesday Poem Blog and check it out!