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Derrick Porter - Thirteen Myrtle Street, Hoxton
Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter

Thirteen Myrtle Street, Hoxton
Derrick Porter

Doors and floorboards
uprooted for the fire;
the widening gaps
we had to leap across
to reach the parlour,
and the sudden silence
if a door handle turned.

Mice loved that house,
living in the backs of chairs
or behind the butler sink,
their footprints cut neatly
through the cold fat
in the frying pan… like a grave
crossed after snowfall.

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