My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long

My Darling from the Lions

Rachel Long

Fascinating poetry, full of grit and astute observation. Each poem has a vivid story to tell, sometimes funny, sometimes outrageous, always insightful and politically aware. You feel disarmed as the poems take stabs at life’s messy muddle and the evils of society. This is a razor-sharp collage enlightened with comedy and wide-awake reflection.

Extract

Tiff’s got me against the school railings, doing

my eyeliner. In double French, I’d whispered,

Your eyes. Will you make mine like that? – slice

through a room, a lie, a man – Break time

her body on mine, stoosh then soft; sugar

on the tongue of all she hasn’t done yet, all she’s

heard she could do. Already, Tiff’s a reckoning;

bomb glitter on lids, oil spills on lips, sandwiches

padding her bra. Yeah, the sandwiches.

Thick, white, unbuttered. See, Tiff’s clocked

the boys have clocked the difference between

a tissue and a tit, a sock and a tit, but not quite yet

a tit and a slice of bread. O girl, you have opened

my eyes, how they weep!

From Sandwiches

Parallels
  • Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Shine, Darling by Ella Frears
  • The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde
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Explicit sexual content