Substitutes

by Christian Ward

I mistook some sea monkeys 
for my house keys and ended
with a revolt in my pocket.
 
I mistook a barn owl for my wallet 
and received ossified pellets 
in exchange for credit card points.
 
I mistook a glasswing butterfly
for my glasses and an overwhelming 
desire for nectar lifted me off the ground.
 
I mistook the ocean for my oyster card 
and a tidal wave knocked on my bedroom 
window, asking for its pearls back. 
 
Among other things, I mistook marriage 
for a funeral pyre, love for a ticking pomegranate, 
grief for a pelt of rain, and a cuttlefish for poetry.
 
I once mistook dreaming for an uncaught trout 
and an entire river rushed through me when I woke. 

Christian Ward is a UK-based poet, with recent work in Southword, Ragaire, Okay Donkey, and Roi Faineant. Longlisted for the 2023 National Poetry Competition (UK), he won a number of competitions in 2024, including the Maria Edgeworth, Pen to Print, London Independent Story Prize and the Shahidah Janjua Poetry Competition.