Vicci Bentley
Sheela-na-gig
Kilmainham, Dublin
Talisman
“That’s a funny looking bloke, holding his
balls”, he said. Then, “wait on,
though”. She’s on my chest, a silver
token. Less than a chip of what she is in
rock. Queen of the corbels. Witch on the
wall with her bog-eyes and
fistfuls of a cunt like a
bargeboat, dug out like a
Viking vessel or a slice from a
ripe fig. Smiling.
Confrontation
Skylines of defiant digits
probing everywhere’s blood-smeared
horizons. Steeples, obelisks,
menhirs - all single fingers up against
unknowing. I look at my own
hands. Strong. Squat. Capable of
coaxing. Sliding up and down. Slipping a
finger in. If I were to peel myself back,
grin crimson, thrusting out the
darkness of my earth-damp
tunnel, it would still seem
fathomless. Penetrate this
threat of faith.
Exhibition
Into this white room with this
gaggle of old stone women. Displaced and
dangerous. On all sides, hunger-ribs,
loll-mouths, lips spread wide between
splayed-out haunches. Displaying the
riddle. Demanding. I sense red on
fingertips and a glaucous, yeasty, silken
stain slips down in me saying
‘This is where you
come from. This is
where you go’.
Page(s) 47-48
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