Catherine Smith
Feral
Our new exhibit. Aged approximately
thirteen years, small, but fully developed.
Nostrils flared, otherwise
recognisably human. As you see
she’s naked, scrawny, covered in a soft
downy hair. Defecates freely.
See how her hands clutch her knees
as she rocks. Listen. A muted,
whimpering howl. Dislikes us
banging on the glass, bares her teeth.
Sleeps curled, like a dog.
We hope to civilise her in time,
but she’s resisted our attempts
to stroke or clothe her. She’s a biter,
this one. She draws blood.
She feeds twice a day, she likes
her meat raw. Look at how
her eyes glitter as she stares at us.
Watch her salivate as her teeth rip flesh.
See the way she spits out gristle,
the way she gnaws on bone.
Page(s) 23
magazine list
- Features
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- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The