Twenty True Things: an Incantation

Sophia Argyris

One is you waist deep in ocean.

Two are the fish suspended silvering in front of you.

Three are the houses you can see in the distance.

Four are the hunting birds circling the mountains.

Five items of clothing you left on the beach.

Six are the years since that doctor touched you

in the wrong way.

Seven are the days you’ve been on this island.

Eight is infinity standing upright.

Nine was your age when you moved to a new country.

Ten used to be your lucky number.

Eleven is everywhere, lined up fence posts along boundaries.

Twelve are the steps that would take you out of water.

Thirteen you were when a stranger said he’d wait

for you to get a little older.

Fourteen times you tap your left index finger

on the inside of your right wrist.

Fifteen months since the funeral and still

you can’t listen to Alexandra Leaving.

Sixteen years from now we’ll have taxed the planet

too heavily for healing.

Seventeen minutes to walk here past the lizards.

Eighteen times this month you’ve woken soon after midnight.

Nineteen ninety nine the whole world looked different.

Twenty true things spoken every day for safety.

SOPHIA ARGYRIS is of British-Greek origin, grew up in Belgium and Scotland. In 2024 she was placed in the Verve Poetry, and Welshpool competitions. Her work has appeared in Magma, Poetry Wales, Under the Radar and is forthcoming in Poetry London. Her pamphlet Heronless will be published by Palewell Press.