discarded dummies skin puckered like crushed lavender
nails loose or gone completely in one case one-handless
no identification no indication of men reported missing
but the imagined flashes of each inhalation lungs liquid-swollen
a burbled aidez moi in their soggy cradle
before the knockout instant finish Polaroid into death
-----
were they lovers I wondered on the Metro
home to Aubervilliers an office affair an online fling
one of those things where the picture doesn’t add up
but a shake of the head dangerous to guess before I know it
my mind whirring to accidental strangulation dual opioid overdose
the papers will speculate gorge on rumours like mould on stale bread
tomorrow’s Le Monde with its letters of silence deux corps retrouvés dans la Seine
men of the river barely thirty lives filched by the water
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.