For March's Poem of the Month I have chosen the poem 'Mappa Mundi' by Judy Russell. It is taken from her new collection Wind Horses.
MAPPA MUNDI
bogey men, ogres, goblins, bad witches,
poltergeists, zombies, demons and ghouls,
all out to get you at night in the forest
on the edge of awareness
here be dragons
arsonists, muggers, perverts, pimps,
slave traders, lechers, assassins and goons
watching for prey at the edge of the city
on dimly lit streets
here be dragons
terrorist bombers, insurgents, militias,
saboteurs, anarchists, pirates, al-Qa’ida,
plotting our downfall in cities and skyways
in faraway caves
here be dragons
sabre-toothed tigers, coyotes and spiders,
vampires and scorpions, caymans and snakes
haunting our dreams with a riot of meaning
DNA sequences
here be dragons
foreigners, strangers, the homeless, the crazies,
beggars, the screamers and little green men
lurk in dark doorways in treacherous shadows
inside our heads
here be dragons
Copyright © Judy Russell 2013
All rights reserved
The author has asserted her/his right under Section 77
of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
to be identified as the author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.