Ask what I am.
I’m the right arm,
the gun-arm,
the bow-arm
of something greater.
But prise us apart
and learn more about me.
I’m a devastating study.
You root out my history?
Let me tell you,
it’s quite the procedure.
I’m a finder. A what?
I’ve dredged rivers of wreckage,
combed meadows of sparkplugs,
untangled highways of clawed-out wiring.
It’s grim work, true. Not everyone
has the spark or the knack.
Riddling the killing fields
for hope, improvements,
ways to maybe live forever.
There’s so much to salvage,
so much that could be special.
Not everyone can see potential.
Nothing from you, Left Arm, Torso,
Guts? Back me up. This is good stuff.
No scrap of assistance
or a hook to spare?
It’s rubbish,
crushed bone, nothing useable here.
Stop clogging the lair. Stay.
Stop setting out again.
You’re only saying
what I hear in my dome
But I can’t stop now
when the real gold is out there.
Indulge me, then. Tell me
I’m a master collector
an alchemist
brilliantine
crucial to victory.
Say we’re a team.
I’ve got so, so much.
Just need someone
to haul it back with me.
KIRSTEN IRVING is a commissioning editor at Sidekick Books and the editor of over ten poetry and illustration anthologies on various themes. Her debut collection, Never Never Never Come Back was published by Salt in 2012 and is now sold out. She works as a freelance copywriter and can be contacted at www.kirstenirving.com.