Blindsight
by Julie Dexter
Before the world was ember and ash,
before we knew the sky by name,
before mycelium laced the dark,
networking nourishment through its roots.
Before I could lose myself in the
vast expanse of star and tree,
or think of the green-lit-calm of a garden.
Before language cracked the silence,
before creed laid testament to all that was.
Before being, before stillness, star, and void,
before the first ripple of thought. Before DNA spiralled like a prayer,
before krill assuaged the sea’s first hunger —
What was there?
As painting is to light,
so poetry is to time and
we have already lived a thousand lives;
hybrids of stone and fire,
kings and beggars, saints and beasts.
Yet knowing this will not unmake hunger
for war and power,
born from myth, might and greed.
Knowing this will not return the lost, or make the broken whole again.
We are blindsided by the promise of escape. With fecundity we dream of vanishing,
of sinking back into earth again,
threading ourselves through the dark, regenerating, reliving without choice. Without knowing why.
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Julie Dexter is a writer and poet, born in Leicestershire, currently living at the North Sea coast, Kent. Her writing explores themes of imbalance, seasonal change, climate change and how this interconnectedness impacts the human condition. Her main key achievements that demonstrate her current artistic trajectory include:
- 2023 Pen to Print Poetry Prize winner
- Poetry pamphlet published through Pen to Print/Barking & Dagenham libraries
- Haiku publications in The Leaf Journal (2023)
- Regular contributor to Write on! Magazine, featuring poems and conducting writer interviews
- Honourable Winner of All Poetry Newcomer prize, 2025
- Middlesex University Anthology, Opening Fictions, 2010
- Creative Week, short story, 2006
- Tresco Times, an Isle of Scilly magazine, Short story, 2006
Her socials are available for those who would like to follow her journey.
Instagram: @LateNightSwimmer
X: @JulieADexter
Web: www.juliedexterwriter.com
