izzy

I will only shimmy if you ask me to
by wrapping me gently in brown paper

and here is the thing, the thing is
that I will enjoy it – I really will
I like to shimmy, I do it well,
I look like I am made of glitter and my eyes glow
I light up like a distress flare or a haystack burning

it is awkward and beautiful
but I will only do it if you ask me real nice

*

sarah

I’m standing at the starting line
With my warrior stripes torn in zinc across my nose
And a switchblade gaffer taped to my thigh
The crowd is roaring
My fists are clenching
And I can’t wipe this shit-eating grin off my face
Because I’ll be on that podium in half an hour
Screaming ‘fuck you’ to every participation ribbon
Every encouragement award
Every patronising pat on my motherfucking back
I’m gonna hold that shiny gold trophy up high
And they’ll remember me this time
Oh boy, they’ll remember me
It’s not gonna be pretty,
But you know what they say:
No guts, no glory.

*