Three Poems / by Lisa Hannah

At Seven

White morning edges and the bed is halved
eating sunlight.
Passing, I see my two hearts giant 
Your face.
Your smell.
This bedroom scene enlarged as a photograph,
before and between and in the act of intercourse with others.
Indescribable like most gods,
I pick up a handful of something 
and it's your hair.

My lack of imagery presents you most clearly

at seven.





Ginger Ale

That night I brought blankets down to the couch 
and listened for the phone 
until you rang at two and I slept,
head and cushion fused like a scar.

Sleep transforms the room to daylight.
The couch is for sitting. 
His herringbone cap spectates from the ledge,
watching the boys play football. 

The green curtains are open, 
letting in light and breath.
His jacket's on the hook 
behind the front door.

Upstairs, the bed has been changed
and suddenly I remember I did it,
crying the day before looking at the bedside 
and his half glass.





In Case of Fire 

In a blaze, one fire may hide another fire, that is, if you are fighting one 
you may be fighting many. And you could be fighting a long time 
before it is safe to come out. 
In a relationship one fire may put out another, so when having sex it is 
important to keep all fires ignited, having matches nearby 
is one was to do this. One flame may hide another so it is important 
that birthday candles are well spaced on a cake or they may melt before 
one has time 
to enjoy them. Fear of fire can often be debilitating. It may lead to 
other phobias. In treating one, you don’t necessarily cure all of them; 
one house fire 
may hide another and another and then a lot of flats and Mosscroft 
One mobile fire can hide another mobile fire until an outbuilding is 
hardly used. In a couple, one passion can hide another. One argument 
can hide another, one jealousy another, a whole inferno. When in 
bed one face may become the face of another and haunt you long 
If you are cooking, one fire can ruin another, if the food you are 
preparing burns the roof of your mouth and you lose your appetite. One 
Turner painting often resembles 
another, unless you spot a tiny red sail on the smallest boat. 
When you are seven and arguing about cushions, near a fire, be sure 
to lean your body away from the flames. This will prevent an eye shape 
being burned onto the back of your hand.
In case of fire do not use the lift or staircase. It is impossible to know 
how many levels the fire has reached or how many fires are raging now.
In this house polystyrene coals burn holes in the carpet so do not light 
them. One coal sometimes hides another that hides another and that 
one hides another in turn. Like cups of tea, these coals are useless 
when cold. In the desert, one burning bush can hide another until you 
can’t see what else is out there.
At work one story about a fire opens up another until they trigger the 
fire alarm and one has to rush outside. If you are Richard Wright, one 
straw from a burning broom may follow another until the fluffy curtains 
are ablaze and you are hiding under the house shouting, ‘Naw!’
Sometimes it seems that one bonfire, candle, funeral hides inside 
another and another until you are almost extinguished. In which case 
please break glass.




Lisa Hannah is a writer from Liverpool.