JAMES WALSH is moved by a provocative and original take on the relationship between ecology and architecture, and a plea to work with, not against, the materials and minerals of our world
Emma Lee - The Staircase of Knives
Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter
The Staircase of Knives
Emma Lee
The only thing that's regular
is that there are two on each stair,
one at either end. She has to thread
her way past these kitchen knives
stabbed into the white-painted treads
to get to bed. She has to tip-toe:
if disturbed they will invade
her dreams and sharpen her nerves.
They are not the most chilling
thing in the photo posted by police.
That honour goes to the bullet.
Against the stark white,
its tip points to a blank wall.
This is someone's home,
"a place where one lives,
especially as part of a family."
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