Lit eZine Vol 10 | p-14 | POETRY | Residue – Manic Sylph Writes… Poetry & Thoughts by Mona Soorma

SHORT POEM

RESIDUE
Short Poem by Dianne Elizabeth Casey

Hands holding a jar of pure syrup and scraping syrup with a butter knife in a kitchen — AI-generated image

Previously published in Where the Light Folds In

Crust of sugar,
syrup thick as doorstep bread.
The lid holds fingerprints 
glass on glass,
stained.

Inside, peel sits heavy,
broad as a fossil from the beach,
time kept in the hand.

It lives in the younger mouth 
spoon first.

The knife goes in,
comes out burdened,
bending,
bulking

It won’t be made smaller.

It gathers.
A skin forms,
transfers.

Door to door,
handle to handle,
residue follows the hand.

Spoon-fed.
And still it clings 
in the creases of the hand,
on every handle turned after.

Long after the mouth forgets,
it stays

Connect with Dianne Elizabeth Casey on Instagram

Connect with Dianne Elizabeth Casey on Substack

Dianne Elizabeth Casey is a writer based in the North-East of England. She is the author of the poetry pamphlet Where the Light Folds In (2025). Her work has appeared in The Gentian, Crackle Dust, and Disability Arts Online, with recent and forthcoming publications in Planet Ral, Poetic Reveries, The Mayfly (Wharfinger’s Press, Canada), and the Journal of Expressive Writing.
Her poetry has been exhibited at the British Library as part of the Unfinished Business exhibition and is currently installed at Stockton Globe Theatre, following an exhibition at Preston Park Museum. Her work has also been performed in touring productions across the North of England and developed with Salt Circle Productions.
She has contributed to Plan UK’s State of Girls’ Rights report, was shortlisted by Lemon Jelly Press, and is a recipient of a fully funded Arvon place. Her work explores memory, inheritance, and the ways experience leaves its mark on the body.