Valerie Gillies
Click here to listen to the poem (mp3).
Maeve in Manhattan
She’s the sibyl of silver
the prophet of platinum
techno diva in titanium
she’s the goldsmith girl
long nights in the studio
welding at a workbench
going gem-cutting
with jewellers in Jaipur
she’s enamelling in India
powder-coating spun copper
like a Ducati motorbike
she’s metalworking in Manila
turns her lathe in typhoons
drives to live volcanoes
scuba-dives to corals
the goldsmith girl
closes vice and clamp
zaps her Zag toolbox
on files and fretsaws
silver scrap and ringshanks
the girl comes and goes
with her fibre-optic neckpiece
flashing stellar galaxies
pricing precious metals
she rollerblades to work
creating catwalk jewellery
kinky kinetic
slinky prophetic
alien abduction
astral seduction
starry nights in gold and steel
the goldsmith girl