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1 March 2023

The NS Poem: From Brother Poem

A new poem by Will Harris.

By Will Harris

Mum near Covent Garden

dragging her feet after work

buys a top she’ll never wear

and trudges home to find us

sitting in front of the tv

cottage pie back in the oven

whatever it was

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that crossed her mind

transposed

rage solo at a different

pitch low enough to be

inaudible we turn

the volume up still

light at half eight

the curtains drawn

the first poem I wrote was in

my mind looking outside

while my parents

fought my brother hiding

under the bed a

paleblue thought in

our mother’s mind moving too

fast to be caught

Will Harris’s “RENDANG” won the Forward Prize for best first collection. His second collection, “Brother Poem”, is published by Granta

[See also: The NS Poem: The estate agents take a tour]

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This article appears in the 01 Mar 2023 issue of the New Statesman, The Mission