Oh Cinderella [2024]

Oh Cinderella, fall out of bed

Hear the birds chirp and compose, all for you

Oh Cinderella, get the car keys

Limp down the stairs, hit every corner you can't see

Skip breakfast, the bread got moldy yesterday

Skip brushing your teeth, your toothbrush is worn down to a nub

In fact, skip the car, skip the bus,

Just run Cinderella! Run!

But oh Cinderella,

Do come dance at the ball!

There's no moldy bread at the bar, there's no toothbrushes at all

And if your shoes fall off like they always do,

The shattered glass doesn't have to split your feet

Just scream at a man with your father's face,

Call no one, tell no one,

And wake up tomorrow morning

Mold in your teeth and car keys in hand

Duet for Apes #2 [2024]

Come closer

Heave against my ribcage

Aren't you a filthy beast? / Are you just a filthy beast?

Tendons stretching and retracting,

Blood refusing to escape our husks

Do you want to die a little today? Are you brave enough,

to live, for me?

These sensations

Echoes of the apes that bore us

With each thump you carry another

None of them remembered,

But we know their movements just the same

Not that i'd ever ask you to repeat their names

Homo Habilis, Erectus, Hominini, Habibi.

Each of their remnants spread across your limbs

Fingers, breast, toes.

Fungus, beast, throes.

So with our final thrust

Are we allowed to just lie?

If i watch the fire, will you rest for once?

If i pick your fleas, will you scrub away my mold?

If i look away, will you still be there in the morning

Like you've been for 2 million years?

Two dogs [2023]

Want to be a little bug or perhaps some kind of small animal.

Want to leave the house and go on a big adventure, the long travel from one burrow to another.

Want to have a little sofa, to sit on with the one i love. An old kind of love, yet every day brings new eyes to see with.

Want us only to be slaves to the seasons, and there to be no plastic in the water. We can sing and swim and dance until we fall over in hysterics, feet aching and eyes wrinkled.

Want to reinvent witchhood, as all woman-type folks do at one point or another.

Want the peace to be so strong it flows out of my fingertips, blessing every action and moment i meet.

Want to eat warm acorns, all mushy on the inside. There doesn't need to be any poison in the food.

Want to lay down so intently, allow the bones to just be heavy for once, and slowly sink into the soil.

Want, but not more than anything.

Jaundice [2023]

I have jaundice in my eyes

That you can't see

But it covers you in a thick layer of beeswax

I can't see what i type

Theres bile in places where i haven't even been

I dont remember you

But when i see you; you're young, and beautiful, just like me

I can hold you, i'm braver in the night

None of us are faggots anymore

How to redeem a saint [2023]

1. Remove the head by cutting at an angle just under the cheeks on each side, and then continue along the jaw to the back of the neck.

2. Snap the head off, removing any innards.

3. Make an incision along the back of the body, to one side of the spinal cord.

4. Place the tip of the knife in and run from the neck to the buttocks, along the bones. Midway along the saint, place the knife down and through to the underside of the body, and then run the knife along the whole spinal cord, to the buttocks. Remove the sin by stroking the knife from the gut, towards the head, then remove it from the frame in one swift motion. Repeat on the other side. Trim the skin around the wound to neaten it up.

5. Purify the saint, using tweezers to pull out the sturdy bones from the spinal cord, or cut along either side of them and pull the whole strip of bones out.

6. Repent as desired. The saint can simply be sent away, after being rolled in the shame.

How to check if the saint can be redeemed:

- The saint should smell pleasantly of the sea – if it smells of ammonia, it may already be too late.

- If you press the flesh lightly with your finger, the flesh should spring back. If it remains, it's already absorbed its sin.

- The eyes should be bright and shining – dull eyes mean the saint is past its best.

- The skin should be firm, bright and metallic if fresh. Any discolouration or dull spots indicate the saint has aged beyond redemption.

- If you pull the jaws open, the insides should be bright pink-red – a dark bluey-purple colour means the saint isn’t redeemable.