Pockets

Her pockets are never empty.

She says pockets are for running.

So she keeps them full,

Stuffs universes into them,

And says it is just the essentials.

She says: if we get stranded,

If aliens take us,

If there’s an apocalypse,

There will be no time for bags.

She treats pockets

Like built-in spaces for hope.

Lets the weight of it

Pull down her baggy trousers.

Readies herself for any eventuality,

Revels in her own lack of normality.

© Ruth Awolola from Rising Stars New Young Voices in Poetry (Otter-Barry Books)