Hold Tight by Melanie Joy (Ireland, 40)

​I listen to the excavations of
the nighttime sea whilst
holding someone else’s
little girl close to me.
She awoke looking for her own Mum,
but I was the next best thing she could find.
I cradle her in my lap and marvel at
her tiny forearm and curled up fist.
I wonder have I held my own
enough like this?
Tight enough?
For long enough?
I hope I have.

Melanie Joy makes sense of her world through poetry. Her poetry threads together her inner and outer landscapes. West Kerry where she calls home provides the perfect backdrop for her capricious moods. Since May 2023, she has received a four month mentorship bursary through her local Arts Council. She has had poems published in The Galway Review, Drawn to The Light Press, Smoke Magazine, on the Cloud Appreciation Society website and forthcoming with Dreich magazine, HDLM Magazine and The Poetry Breakfast.  Melanie has been invited to read poems from her first collection at Words by Water and Dingle Literary Festivals.