by Charlie Bowden
Your dream girl
is waiting for you at the post office,
billeted behind the dull blinds and titanium door;
her feather cap, meant to be flaunted on a train station platform,
taunted by sticky oak wood floor.
Air limps from place to place as if lugging around dust,
unable to take any more cargo,
brushing past metal frames furnished by rust
as it unknowingly mocks the goddess realised.
She’s a sphinx trapped in sandstone,
brain in a jar in the dark, heart elsewhere
and full of sugar, ribs an electric piano
brought to life but sparks when touched.
Trapped, attainted, too proud to blush.
What are you going to do about it?
"The poem combines typically jubilant or jovial imagery (blueberry ice cream, electric pianos, clouds etc.) with sombre characterisation to produce an almost claustrophobic dichotomy which aims to keep the reader on edge."
- Charlie Bowden
About the poet:
Hesse Phillips is a poet and writer. He features in Erato Magazine's second issue, Sacrifice.