It was good to see my poem ‘Tom’ being on the long-list for the National Poetry Competition 2024. The competition was judged by Stephen Sexton, John McAuliffe and Romalyn Ante. You can read the winning entries here: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition.
Here’s my long-listed poem
Tom
It’s your business, come the day, to kill the pet:
now he’s too thin to stand, too sick with bile
and blood, it’s you who has to call the vet
then cage and drive the creature half a mile.
You never stay to watch your cats put down
thrown as you are by grief, but since this tom
is smelly, flea-scabbed, barely hangs around
except to pincer birds with bleak aplomb;
because he deigns to speak to you
being the only one who leaves him food,
you’ll take this weightless box in, see it through.
Your vet’s compassion doesn’t raise the mood:
where once her fingers would’ve drawn a claw
he narrows yellow eyes and finds his purr.
It’s the kindest thing to do. She shaves a paw.
For the first time in years you smooth his fur.