Urban Physic Garden

serrations
 
                are my first defence
 
                               but don’t turn back
 
                                                so soon, inside
 
                                                there’s sap to soothe,
 
                                to salve the sting
 
                of bites, to pierce the gloom
 
of any bruise
 
 
Simon Barraclough
(From Herbarium, a new poetry anthology. Launch and reading 22 July)