Apr 2020
I don’t know who he is, OK? I never really know. What I do know: Italian. Blaze of beard. Here on business, apparently. Lard-y skin. A filling, upper-left. An anchor on the ribcage, monochrome. What I do is I let them talk, pretend to absorb. I hear ‘married’, ‘two kids’. He plays squash. I giggle, then accordion-yawn.
Anyway, the deed is over quickly. I do not ******, as if that’s a shock. He grunts as though chopping wood, a digit of sweat slipping down a ******. My lipstick a little smudged but not OTT. I leave him in the casino where we first met, mouth ajar.
I wake at eight, pins and needles submerging my legs. I shower, the water a blizzard of ice, scrub my name backwards in condensation, silver burn.
Now I’m drinking a coffee from a Styrofoam cup. The view, Lake of Lugano. Another man. I hold his eye. I almost choke on the sight across the street. Followed me from Frankfurt to Cannes and back again. There’s a slice of a smile on his face. I know he likes the footwear I’ve chosen, ******-skewered piercing obvious through my shirt. I assume he’s ******* me, but not really, you know what I mean. Black jacket, gush of stubble. I taste his name on my tongue already - acidic, delicious. He knows what I did last night. I know what he did last night. So, naturally, we know what we’ll be doing tonight. At least I’ve gone bra-free. It only slows things down otherwise, if you ask me.
A bell moans out from somewhere. I know how it feels, each tone in time with my steps, my feet moaning from these cheap strapless heels. A Swiss flag on a window, typewriter-chatter of the language hopping out from a café. The lake almost curdles at the very thought of me, surely, slowly, embracing my next mistake.
Anyway, the deed is over quickly. I do not ******, as if that’s a shock. He grunts as though chopping wood, a digit of sweat slipping down a ******. My lipstick a little smudged but not OTT. I leave him in the casino where we first met, mouth ajar.
I wake at eight, pins and needles submerging my legs. I shower, the water a blizzard of ice, scrub my name backwards in condensation, silver burn.
Now I’m drinking a coffee from a Styrofoam cup. The view, Lake of Lugano. Another man. I hold his eye. I almost choke on the sight across the street. Followed me from Frankfurt to Cannes and back again. There’s a slice of a smile on his face. I know he likes the footwear I’ve chosen, ******-skewered piercing obvious through my shirt. I assume he’s ******* me, but not really, you know what I mean. Black jacket, gush of stubble. I taste his name on my tongue already - acidic, delicious. He knows what I did last night. I know what he did last night. So, naturally, we know what we’ll be doing tonight. At least I’ve gone bra-free. It only slows things down otherwise, if you ask me.
A bell moans out from somewhere. I know how it feels, each tone in time with my steps, my feet moaning from these cheap strapless heels. A Swiss flag on a window, typewriter-chatter of the language hopping out from a café. The lake almost curdles at the very thought of me, surely, slowly, embracing my next mistake.
NOTE: HP has altered the layout of this slightly.
Written: 2018/19.
Explanation: A poem that was part of my MFA Creative Writing manuscript, in which I wrote poems about cities that have staged the Eurovision Song Contest, or taken the name of a song and written my own piece inspired by the title. I have received a mark for this body of work now, so am sharing the poems here.
Written: 2018/19.
Explanation: A poem that was part of my MFA Creative Writing manuscript, in which I wrote poems about cities that have staged the Eurovision Song Contest, or taken the name of a song and written my own piece inspired by the title. I have received a mark for this body of work now, so am sharing the poems here.
