Shōji
The wind is high tonight, gust
after gust pounding the tallest branches
of the planes that toss like forests
of kelp on the ocean floor.
Tiny voice in the deep night, small doll
with fish-scale eyes catching
what little light remains, keeping
its stare on me whichever way I look.
2.35 a.m. and you're here again, dressed
as the day you left, your face
pressed up against the see-through paper
door that I get up to open.
Richard Skinner is a writer working across fiction, life writing, essays, non-fiction and poetry. He has published three novels with Faber & Faber, four books of non-fiction and four books of poetry. His work has been nominated for prizes and is published in eight languages. Richard is Director of the Fiction Programme at Faber Academy. He also runs Vanguard Readings and its publishing arm Vanguard Editions.