after Ada Limón
Our love will die
if it is not watered
with compliments
and gratitude.
The bird in our garden
is a great tit.
The way to change
gears on a bike
to make it easier
to go uphill.
To be gentle
squeezing the breaks
going downhill.
The difference
between a coot
and a moorhen.
You teach me
to recognise
that white shield
on a coots' head.
I teach my niece.
Now, when she says,
‘Look, a coot!’
She points to
our love,
gliding on the water.
__________
Dean Atta’s debut poetry collection, I Am Nobody’s Nigger, was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. His novel in verse, The Black Flamingo, won the 2020 Stonewall Book Award and was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, The Diverse Book Awards, Jhalak Prize and YA Book Prize.