Sophia Argyris
Future Tense
Yesterday, I went out hopefully,
with only a slight limp.
Millenia ago the ice came down.
We were already human then.
Yesterday was all befuddled
with itself, couldn’t stop shaking.
This was not an island then,
but a peninsula of mainland Europe.
Yesterday, I held a bruised apple
up to the ceiling like a fist.
Humans only came here then
if a little warmth allowed it.
Yesterday, I took the bus all the way
and then walked back.
September and the geese return
from the High Arctic.
Yesterday, I needed reassurance
that the world would not end
and the geese woke with the sun
and told their clamorous stories.
Today was tomorrow then, not far
enough away for comfort, but
the geese said this is our tundra, said be
fragile and hopeful, with only a slight limp.
Sophia Argyris is of British-Greek origin. Her work has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, and Under the Radar, placed in the Verve Poetry Competition, commended in the Mslexia, Poetry Wales and Ware Poets competitions. She is author of ‘Heronless’ (Palewell Press). Her pamphlet ‘Blood Tundra’ is forthcoming in 2026.