"I Waited for An Ice Age", "Concerning Thursday", "Between his legs" & "Meat Raffle" by Ewen Glass

I Waited For An Ice Age

I was told it would come;

as I closed my book

amid strawberry vapours

ready to leave

two came at once

yes to be cold

to be cold again

Concerning Thursday

Heyyy, how are you? 

Do you want some tea –

oh, you've got some. 

Fab.

Yeah, it's no big deal, really.

We're all in the same boat

or parents group ha ha.

It’s been such fun, hasn't it,

watching all the kids grow?

I – we, I suppose – are just a bit

concerned by what happened.

On Thursday?

You don't remember?

You said 'I love you' to my son.

Is... umm... 

I mean, do you love him?

OH OF COURSE!

No, I totally get it.

We’re all training ourselves,

as much as the bloody kids!

Positive. Affirmation.

I read those posts too.

Replace instinctive annoyance

with something positive.

Wait –

between his legs

she finds 

a pocket of relief

and sits in it 

like an old receipt.

She’d said

love is fireworks!

He scurried home

afterwards, a dog, 

his tail

Meat Raffle

I would do anything for charity,

But I won’t do that.

Ewen Glass (he/him) is a Northern Irish poet who lives in England with two dogs, a tortoise and lots of self-doubt; on a given day, any or all of these can be snapping at his heels. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in HAD, Bridge Eight, Poetry Scotland, Gordon Square Review and elsewhere. On socials (and in real life) he is pretty much ewenglass everywhere.