Spell

by Ruth Roberts Owen

In candlelight I found
                          your fingerprints
on the cover
of the lemon-yellow novel
you sent me;
one by one
with the tip of my tongue
I have lifted
                them
clean.
Now you are mine
                        forever.

Judge's Comments - Martin Malone

This poem manages to be both sinister and tender at the same time or in whichever light you read it. Which ticks my poetry box. It has a confident and sure-footed quality of economy and phrasing which put me in mind of a randy William Carlos Williams.