Marilyn Ricci
The A-Word
On TV Bob groans as his lover, Jim,
uses cotton wool to caress the dark
lesions which threaten to blind.
My daughter, seventeen, sucks at her Fanta.
Will he pull through?
I shake my head and say the A-word.
I watch Jim stroke Bob's skeletal face until
bubbling pasta rescues me.
The phone rings. She pads through.
What? With Jez and Tony!
Did she use..no, she wouldn't. Daft cow.
I can hear the awe in her voice.
Steam envelopes my frown.
I concentrate on the plump pasta.
Page(s) 30
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- French Literary Review, The
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- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
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- Magma
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- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
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- North, The
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- Pen Pusher Magazine
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- Poetry London (1951)
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- Poetry Salzburg Review
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- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
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- Weyfarers
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- Yellow Crane, The