I optimise myself at every turn and every moment
Wondering often if this is really a normal way to be…
To occupy a hyper aware, hyper sensitive state of being
Where the only concern in this ephemeral life
Is what people think of you.
The only fearsome, fret-worthy foe
Is how I’m perceived by anybody I cross paths with.
I feel desperate for vacancies under Beauty’s wing to open up
I tell her i’ll mold to anything you want me to be
Just make me the kind of pretty that’s universally acknowledged.
That’s impossible, she replies
And I don’t even dispute it, because I know it to be true
Yet I pound my fists against the wall and stomp my feet
Then why hasn’t my brain got the memo, I cry
Tears crawling down my cheeks like two Olympic sprinters
And I’m screaming now because how has one part of my chemical makeup
Not got the memo
While the rest is quick to accept.
I know nothing good can come of this conversation
Yet I still end up inviting Beauty into a meeting room every other day
To plead and beg for the impossible.
She charges me for her time and I leave with a bill the size of a jumbo jet
It gets paid in instalments
Which means I never reach the point of being debt free
Because this loop goes on forever.
Tag: writer
Fizzy Sundays
Sun pours from the sky’s kettle
making everything drip with warmth
outside there’s a rattle and a clang
the window shakes with the passing of buses
sitting inches on the pavement below
burning their rubber into the road’s pores
burping up toxic gases
that I’ll beckon into my lungs when out for a run.
The Sunday air is quiet and creamy
writing from my bed feels eerily perfect
ahead of a week of probable worry
mind ready to melt
like an ice lolly
body like a train chugging towards burnout.
Dirty ramen
It’s impossible to act like a princess
when you’re eating ramen.
I pull apart these stubborn chopsticks,
and watch the wood splinter,
like lovers scorned they leap apart
and drown in an oil-soaked, soupy bath
where mushrooms bob up and down
like caramel apples and
bamboo shoots cling to beansprouts
for dear life.
My lips are smothered in broth
napkin smudge-ridden, turning from white to brown
I slurp back sinewy noodles
knotted and silky, drenched in stew
and feel the sauce ooze down my chin.
Teeth no doubt stained
face no doubt smudged
mouth no doubt dyed with soy sauce.
Stop objectifying chicken tikka.
Porn
for the stomach
Orgasm
for the soul
masala mayhem ensues.
A creamy layer of coconut and almonds
topples on top of chicken chunks
and lips are licked
while throats yawn open
like snapping crocodiles.
In and out
feeding frenzy
bite and swallow
love at first sight.
Indian food, will you marry me?
so I can plant a sloppy kiss on your spiced cheek
and live happily ever after
in one big billowing poppadom orgy.
Chutney smothering my chops
Naan bitten and torn
ripped and ravaged,
undressed, unpeeled
on our first night together.
Porn
for the stomach
Orgasm
for the soul
my ever-lasting love affair
with chicken tikka masala.