A Poem by our Writer in Residence, David Gilbert

Kestrel

The sky is cobalt before rain.
No, this time why not try

properly to explain
how mental illness

took my life, and thought’s
storms drove through me?

Or how way back the mind
removed itself, a grin

melding my jaw tightly
in all weathers. Yet a frail

kestrel too is held
above the purple heather

and the bare winter tree
sees out its loss.

© 2023 David Gilbert

David Gilbert is Writer in Residence at Bethlem Gallery, author of ‘The Patient Revolution – how we can heal healthcare’ (Jessica Kingsley Press) and ‘The Rare Bird Recovery Protocol’ (poetry collection).