Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

and Lucy sits                                               felt tipping her hair
above the crayoned lashes, doing the thing with her teeth and
resting her chin underneath, waiting for the hour when the girl
with the flowers in her hair and perfume rolled up in glitter
comes with the doubt dreaming lines that she’s promised are hers
forever

and Lucy sighs                                              ah men don’t
look at her through the selfishness seeing only tits and teeth
under rolled forward lips better for the profile tastier for the
tone that drowns mimicked softlighting dowsing the twist in ever
blonde ha ha’s listening for the turn of a key note while licking
the colour of yesterday

and Lucy sees                                                skin pocked by
needles of spun symbols dancing for the minds of whoever wants to
see whoever wants to touchtastetaint with breath breathed in the
lights of chance hoping for the pencilled sky to touch the ground
and take yesterday from the daylight closing outward

and Lucy tries                                                 the light sparking
theatrical bulbs waiting in the shadows round the edges watching
the disney hair drawn down animated neck cell-by-cell flicking
the lashes of eyes and theirs singular for plurals that criss-
crossed the tampered slights and oooops both feet in

and Lucy stands                                             in the door
without opening her mouth tasting the bottled colours washing the
walls to the sounds licked outward from the kisskissing lips
wearing her petals in the braids she wears for herself smiling
reflected back over shoulder without turning

and Lucy cries                                                smudging
words spilling onto fingertips wanting to slip the inked card
between the frame and the glass like and with the letters she
used to get smelling the paper and working fingers over the
brittle pressed-too-hard hand of the one before sucking in the
meaning and giving back the tears

and Lucy writes

I think I love you more than
yesterday xxxxxxxxxxx