About Nairn
Nairn Kennedy is a Leeds-based poet whose work has appeared in Orbis, Ink Sweat & Tears, The London Magazine, Stand, The North, Spelt, 14 Magazine and Under the Radar. He’s won second prize in the Ilkley Literature Festival Competition, has been longlisted in the National Poetry Competition, and been highly commended in the Bridport, amongst others, as well as being a runner-up in the 2025 Stanza Competition.
When he’s not writing poetry, he likes to read, develop software and drink more tea than is good for him.
The Breath
You, violin, were a long time gestating,
until one morning in the busy workshop class
saturated with the soft purr of sawing,
the choof of chisels paring wood,
the gentle hiss of the perfectly set up scraper,
I checked the set of the glue on your body,
its top pierced precisely with a pair of f-holes.
Somewhere in the room, someone spoke,
I don’t know what: maybe What do I do next,
or Look at the volutes I’ve carved on this scroll,
and you spoke back. You sang in sympathy
with the sound, suddenly alive
between my midwife hands.