our love is a fairy-
tale: if you won’t rescue me,
i won’t fuck you. i am weary
in this trailerpark – we
don’t have castles in
America. i can’t feel like a queen
eating Costco canned peaches. sin
is all i have left, but i’m unseen:
that’s what we call innocence here.
lift my silk dress, ignore my abscesses-
at our motel-honeymoon, what will you wear?
husband, King, all i crave are excesses.
one day, i’ll get out of this place, i know.
i first said that fifteen years ago.
—
‘canned peaches’ was published in 2016 as part of the UEA Undergraduate Creative Writing Anthology, Undertow.