All the World
I come home early
to the clatter of pans
Loud music
Kitchen smells
A smile on your face
The scene is so warmly lit that
I’m almost taken in but
Your eyes are red
I say something about
the pollen count and
you don’t look at me
as I give you an
antihistamine
We know this play
My role for tonight
set with a ring pull
and the fizzing hiss click
of you giving in
hours ago
There are empties half hiding everywhere on top of the cupboard behind the bath out of reach but
Visible
Right there
Method acting
I forget the red
we eat dinner on the sofa
from our laps
speaking in rhubarbs
Later, sleepily running a bath
I hear the twang of
expanding metal sweating out
grass fresh breath
Searching on my stomach
eye to floor
reveals a dead sentry line
of crushed stella cans
dustless behind pipes
My shotgunned gut sits
in cold steam
compromising
pleading to my better nature
begging for stiches
Instead
fever wet
armed with dripping aluminium
I ask you why
You lie
Laura Ellyn Newberry is a Hull born poet/accountant living in Yorkshire. She has recently completed an MA in Creative Writing at York St John University and is in the process of completing a first collection.