OK, here we have some aromantic feels, some accidental sexiness, and a poem that is just a little scrap of weird. Enjoy!
***
Here is What I Know of Boyfriends
They are mostly called Dave.
They start out small and badge-shaped
but grow like Japanese knotweed.
They wrap around you like vines, wrist-thick,
tendril-slender, sticky as ivy.
They take you places.
Restaurants. IKEA.
Their kisses are cigarettes and brandy.
They are very important.
They have very important eyes.
***
Chaperone
Did you know that if you snip the stem of a small, white rosebud, it will bounce on the hard ground like a marble? You can’t kill those soft, sweet things – they only harden in a blink, turn the texture of teeth, take on the lustre of pearls like they were born to it. A thwarted flower is worth a baker’s dozen bouquets and that is God’s honest truth my girl.
***
Old Heat New Thunder
We sleep and we don’t sleep on the deck
under an unfaithful sky.
My wideawake hands seek hipbone
whalebone
scrimshaw.
They are a bunch of thumbs, all idle.
I could dip below deck, catch us some rum.
I could dip below sea like a ladle,
pour the waves on your hot feet.
I feel like the inside of a seed.
I feel like the bit of air that lightning runs through.
I feel like the itch sealed up inside a mermaid’s tail.
I feel okay, all things considered.
The sail fills right up and the heat breaks
loud enough to wake the whole ocean.
***
Comments are welcome! I know people get shy about commenting on poetry because there’s a misconception you’re supposed to say things like “Oh, I enjoyed the classical pastoral imagery in the second stanza but found the excessive use of assonance a little grating”. It’s a myth! Poetry is for everyone, regardless of how familiar you are with it.
If you enjoyed these poems, I have poetry for sale here and here. If you have a UK address and would like a paper copy of my chapbook 16 Flavours of Ghost, message me on Twitter @corastillwrites. It’s on special offer throughout the month of October, so it’s yours for just £3.65 (postage included).
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