Write Out Loud’s Graham Sherwood is one of 16 local writers in Milton Keynes whose work has been included in Dreams for Lammas, a Milton Keynes literary festival online anthology on the theme of Harvest. Poets will be reading from the anthology on Zoom on Thursday 1 August at 7pm. More details

 

You can read Graham’s poem ‘Reap’ here

 

          REAP

          by Graham Sherwood

 

  

           it’s time for rest and guiltily

           we take our ease amongst

           the butter yellow corn,

           fearing haughty August

           may stir his listless frame

           to catch us naked, like

           furtive lovers amid the

           signal red poppy heads,

           we roll over to face a pastel sky

           shade our eyes, keen our ears

           somewhere the reaping has begun,

           soon the barley will lean

           idly in crooked ‘stooks’ and

           Goose Fair approaches fast,

           young schoolgirls will dance

           beneath rich sapphire skies,

           corn dollies jiggling from their belts,

           painted aprons stained dark

           with Paisley patterned

           blackberry blood.