Here is another international submission! Vanessa Napolitano lives with her husband and daughter in Yorkshire and works with international students. Her poems can currently be found in the exhibit ‘Maternochronics’, the anthology ‘Songs of Love & Strength’ and in the online journal ‘Freeverse Revolution’. She loves to read poetry and eat ice-cream.
During the lockdown, most of us have done a lot of reassessing and thinking about the past. This poem describes a pandemic birthday, tinged with memories of other times, a haunting that is only emphasized by the clever use of form.
You can also access the poem in accessible Word document here: Landlocked.