Category sponsored by Stiff+Trevillion
how to warm up cold ears
Faith Cunningham
this morning i
forgot
my earphones
so my ears
are exposed:
to fragments of
distant tongues
from the raffish
off-licence where
my bossman always
smiles at me
a little golden
cap on his
egg-coloured tooth
or the slosh of the Thames
down below
a patriotic tourist boat
a little too saturated
for the grey murk
they’re oo-ing and ah-ing
at every shard of glass
fresh eyes
and even the odd nostalgic one
or the keys jingling in my pocket
as i delve into night
to the nearest neon red ring
poking its head overground like some
omnipresent rabbit
i step into the heat
of a thousand breaths
underneath.
i shut my eyes
as i listen to
the screech of the tube
jolting in familiar corners
like an itch finally taken care of
somewhere on my lower back.
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