generational hazard
by Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
the women of my family
are sepia & crackling
they are climbing
an oak
with babes
in one arm
grasping branches
with the other
recreating
the family tree
making the pun
of themselves
physical
their laughter
rough like bark
& hair not yet
in its autumn
falling like leaves
i am born to sweep
from the donetsk canopy
all they can see
is goats grazing
husbands turning fish
over fire
they cannot see
the far future in which
i exist
or the possible future
in which one of them falls
the snap of her radius
like a stepped-
on
twig
or the future winters
in which my elbow aches
from the cold
& i blame that ache
on her fall
Forward Prizes for Poetry
Shortlisted for Best First Collection 2024
Food for the Dead
Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
About Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
Charlotte Shevchenko Knight is a poet of both British and Ukrainian heritage. Her debut pamphlet Ways of Healing was a winner of the New Poets Prize. Shevchenko Knight has an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London and is based in York. She is a recipient of an Eric Gregory Award.
