'noli me tangere'
By Gruff Kennedy
Illustrations by Isabel Mitchelson


I was watching a video yesterday
About endangered caterpillars
Living in the Lake District
They feed on balsam.
'Touch-me-not'
Seeds.
The balsam is rare, and their only food source.
Its curious name derives from a
Mechanism it employs.
When touched, its seed pods
Burst; the seeds
Fly.
The caterpillar has no warning of this.
Heedless of danger they awkwardly
Crawl along the balsam stems
And feed. Sometimes they,
Too early,
Fly.
'Image poem#1'
By Gruff Kennedy


There's something discomfiting about being away from
The ebb and flow of the sea.
There's something incredibly calming about
The hiss of the gulls
The shriek of the tide.