Alison Hill’s poetry has appeared in a wide range of magazines and anthologies and her poem To a Girl on Platform Three was nominated by SOUTH magazine for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (2012). She also writes plays and flash fiction.

Her first pamphlet, Peppercorn Rent, was published by Flarestack in 2008 and her second full collection, Slate Rising, is published by Indigo Dreams Publishing.

Alison was Kingston Libraries’ first Poet in Residence (2011-12) and ran a series of events and workshops for adults and children across the borough.

She founded and runs Rhythm & Muse, a monthly poetry and music event in Kingston upon Thames – more details can be found at www.rhythmandmuse.org and www.alisonhillpoetry.com

The Early Hours

We sit rooted, bound in a sleepy understanding.

His feeling for the world just a quivering mass
of need with an occasional stillness,
a listening, a leaning towards ancient beats,
warm familiar sounds of distant womb.

Scratch-eyed, I am awash with night flashes
of long-forgotten travels, snatches
of foreign scenery; long before we began
our strange nocturnal two-step.

He stirs, widens his navy eyes in sheer wonder.
We draw closer with a sympathetic shiver,
child of mine, son of mine, all and none of mine.

Dawn breaks, and my heart turns over.