Her work has been published online and in print, most recently in Artemis, Black Bough Poetry and (forthcoming) in Ink, Sweat and Tears and The High Window. In 2018 she founded the Cirencester Poetry Group. In November she will be the featured poet in the Silver Branch Series on Black Bough Poetry, and 2020 marks her sixth appearance at the Cheltenham Literature Festival as a prize winner. ‘Signet Ring’ was first published in ARTEMISpoetry Issue 24.
The power of an object to bring comfort in difficult times, is the subject of ‘Signet Ring’ by Iris Anne Lewis, this month’s featured writer, and the winner of the 2020 Gloucestershire Poetry Society competition.
In addition to poetry, Iris writes short stories and has made her own poetry films. A founder member of Somewhere Else Writers she is an active participant in local poetry events and open mics.
More stories and poems at somewhere-else-writers.org.
You can also follow Iris at Twitter: @IrisAnneLewis.
Signet Ring
Clasped in the velour ridges
of the jewellery box, my father’s ring
stands erect
above the clutter of beads and trinkets.
Its face is plain, gold with no engraving.
Only accidental scratches inscribe
the details of a hard-worked life.
Mostly I leave it in its box,
untouched,
preferring silver lockets,
bright-gemmed brooches,
pendants strung on leather.
But when, wild-eyed, I need a father’s care,
I pull it from its resting place,
slip it on my thumb, feel
circumscribed by love.
Iris Anne Lewis
First published in ARTEMIS poetry Issue 24
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