Kristin Martin writes poetry and short fiction for adults and children. Her poems have been published in magazines, anthologies and online, including in The Mozzie, Blast Off (The School Magazine), In Daily, Friendly Street Poets anthologies, Tadpoles in the Torrens (Wakefield Press, 2013) and on her website: kristinmartin.net.
Snowflakes on your Coffin
That year
spring came early.
The almonds blossomed white against the bleak
then fell, like snowflakes,
as did you,
and all I knew was winter.
I could not see the ripening kernels
nor hear the screech of lorikeets come to feast.
I barely felt the stir of warmth.
But as the last leaf fell,
returning branches to the bleak,
our child was born
and I knew spring.
Published in Sorcerers and Soothsayers, Friendly Street Poets 35, edited by John Pfitzner and Tracey Korsten, Wakefield Press, 2011.
Whistling Kites
a collection of kites
dip and soar
through the too blue sky
their invisible strings held
by daredevil kids
standing unseen
on the red-fringed road
when a thoughtless road train
barrels through
strings snag, stretch and snap
their sport ruined
the kids tumble away
while the kites
with an exultant whistle
and a tilt of their wide brown wings
escape into the corners of the sky
Published in The Infinite Dirt, Friendly Street Poets 38, edited by Jelena Dinic, gareth roi jones and Thom Sullivan, Friendly Street Poets, 2014