Members' Area
writes a friend, meaning I’m in my bachelor era,
posting a selfie cradling a scotch at the jazz bar’s
counter, meaning
I’m a girlboss yes queen a digital nomad, posting
a selfie with a baby crocodile to the mums’
group chat, tongueless mouth creepy-smooth
like a Barbie’s bits
meaning I am not afraid
when eating alone of snapping
my fingers for dessert
meaning I am
not afraid of the boys who want to drive me
somewhere more Instagram-worthy
meaning I say yes
but curl alone in the back with the fruit,
my jostled body remembering the last time
I let a man drive, waiting for the wrong
turn, the outskirts, dirt filling my mouth,
meaning I’m living
not just surviving, sort of, eye on the map
skewered with dropped pins, places to eat,
meaning the star
over that wine bar with the phenomenal
veal, meaning
when the cops pull us over I hide under blue
sacking, manmade weave, sweating,
terror, prayer, meaning
when the plastic lifts and I see the mouth
of a gun, the butt of a Coke can, I slip him a twenty,
Andrew Jackson’s thin lips scrunched in
a fist, meaning
he covers me tenderly like a dead girl
meaning the swerve
as a pregnant dog crosses the broken road
and the apples fall, bruises browning in us both
meaning I reach
out from under my polypropylene shroud
and take one,
meaning I bite.
No workshops were found.
Featured Poem
'You have eaten the patriarchy' was commended in the 2023 National Poetry Competition, judged by Will Harris, Clare Pollard and Jane Draycott. From the judges: 'A terrific poem with its skilfully-voiced cascade of scenes evoking a young woman’s experience in a world where she is both ‘girlboss yes queen’ and victim, all movingly detonated by the narration’s central moment ‘remembering the last time I let a man drive … the outskirts, dirt filling my mouth.’'
You have eaten the patriarchy
by A.V. Bridgwood
The Poetry Society was founded in 1909 to promote “a more general recognition and appreciation of poetry”. Since then, it has grown into one of Britain’s most dynamic arts organisations, representing British poetry both nationally and internationally. Today it has more than 5,000 members worldwide and publishes The Poetry Review.
With innovative education and commissioning programmes and a packed calendar of performances, readings and competitions, The Poetry Society champions poetry for all ages.