Moving Out
— a poem by Eric Dean

Whatever you were seems more than you have become,
but what you lost was dead weight.
A block of wood, hacked, hewn and beaten
carved and cut down smooth and lithe,
Fat from muscle, claw-torn and eaten.
Will tempered in a wicked womb, writhe
and kick, wander-sick and birth-zealous.
Curiosity choked, hand-bitten and fires
stoked, in a small heart, strong of beat and freedom-jealous.
A slow, scarred shell shed – an old voice retires.
A core burns closer to open air, eyes squint to sun,
nostrils flare and tears run,
blood flows, and you’re the only one
with your hands on the wheel now…
___
The Poet: Eric I. Dean (Tulsa, OK) writes because he enjoys it.

The Artist:  Eleanor Leonne Bennett is an internationally award winning photographer and artist who has won first places with National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation, Nature's Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage. Her photography has been published in the Telegraph, The Guardian, BBC News Website and on the cover of books and magazines in the United states and Canada. Her art is globally exhibited, having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles, Florida, Washington, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations. She was also the only person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Biodiversity 2010.