Dawn by Imogen Cooper

It felt like a nakedness to see you

in the corner shop, wearing those shorts

I had sometimes put on accidentally

in the mornings. That early, my words

were still slurred with sleep and ourlegs

had been soofteninterchangeable. Wakeup,

I’d say, finding a new kind of courage

in your pockets; the sloped hem

of the thigh. Given half a chance

it might still be night. Thebirds stirred

and the pink sky offered a pale bead

of thesunorthemoon. Wakeup,

I’d say, shaking your arm. You’vegot toseethis.

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Imogen Cooper has recently finished an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. Her work can be found in 14 Magazine, Ink Sweat & Tears, and The Broken Spine.