6 Poems by Poppy Cockburn
Short poem
Little can go wrong
in something so short.
I would like
to love you, but fear
I don’t have
a pink bow emoji
big enough.
Portent
I know you’re going
to break the internet
of my heart.
That afterwards,
I won’t stop searching
your name.
A game of chess
I like to gently
lie each piece down
on the board
and let them sleep.
I BREAK UP WITH THE KINDEST MAN I’VE EVER DATED
I’m not who I say I am
You shouldn’t tell anyone you’re going to do something
until you’ve actually done it
You shouldn’t re-post an article you’ve haven’t read
all the way through to the end
The end is where the bigoted slurs come into play
I never got into videogames
though it’s a romantic notion – a woman with a console
to console her
One of the boys, but heart socks and knickers
Maybe that’s just the porno speaking…
How much can anyone absorb before it takes over part of their personality?
I wanted to ask a man to fuck me like he loved me
but instead, invited him to fuck me to death
He didn’t manage that, but he put my back out
which was mildly impressive
I guess it was a lot to ask…
A few days later, he said he loved me, in a way
My back still hurts, in a way
Why are break-up roses always yellow?
Spring is coming
with its bouncing lambs
who’ve never heard of Slaughterhouse-Five
Make way for an army of chocolate bunnies in waiting
gold foil glinting in dark stockrooms
A charm bracelet in an art exhibition
I wanted to take someone special, so I took myself
SAINT SEBASTIAN
In this portrayal, he’s yanked out his arrows.
Wounds ooze down his pearly chest
at a sensual pace. Paint drips
canvas.
Eyes slatted, he whispers me closer,
invites me to pause the flow,
gasps
when I softly probe, a smile
tremoring his Cupid bow lips.
A shooting stab of pain. Divinity.
Gore pools at our toes.
A holey man provides colour, simultaneously fades.
I hear sirens,
follow his eyes’ horizons, turn to see
a troupe of women advancing. Quivers full.
Poppy Cockburn is a writer based in Margate, UK. She is the author of four poetry chapbooks. Her most recent, Liquid Crystal Lovesick Demon, was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2023. She’s also been published by Anthropocene, Perverse, SPAM, Rough Trade Books, Dream Boy Book Club and elsewhere. Her book, Naked Oyster, is forthcoming with If a Leaf Falls press.
