Epoch

And I can’t
can’t
do the 7:45 wetness
on the bathroom floor
anymore

I step in it
And my socks
are sad on the way to work.

Conduit Road is more
miserable
having items which
weep unexpectedly.

I’m sorry that I break
once
every 28 days.

It’s an unfortunate side effect
of pins in your arm
and love.

And you,
you
Tell me everything’s
going to be okay
in a voice I abhor

offering orgasms
and cups of tea,
to talk me down
from the ledge.

I tell you I’ve got cold feet
And that I miss
my Waitrose deliveries.

I say I don’t want
you to touch me
and that your family
are annoying.

(Which they are)

And then
And then

We turn off the light
With our
new clean bed sheet

which you have blow-dried
along with my knickers
for work

and we kiss in the dark
for hours

my tongue tells your teeth
how much of a fool
I am.

 

 

Rebecca Sandeman is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield and Events Organiser for a lawyers firm. She is editor at @CicatriceJournal and her work has appeared in Route 57, Edinburgh Inkwell, Llady and Prole.