‘Before the Music Drops’ by Milena Williamson

after Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ‘I, Robot ...You, Jane’

The girls’ locker room is a labyrinth,
a mess of flooded hearts and brains.

I need to get changed for gym class.
This body is all I have left. How’s my hair?

I was up all night listening to the radio:
talk of cyberspace, market crashes, muses.

Of course I feel sparklingly normal
surrounded by so much yellow tape.

I will be free tonight for a moment
of reflection before the music drops.

It’s been lovely talking to you.
It’s been so lovely fighting with you.

From issue #14: autumn/winter 2022

About the Author
Milena Williamson is completing a PhD in poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. She has received an Eric Gregory Award and the Ireland Chair of Poetry project award. Her debut pamphlet is Charm for Catching a Train from Green Bottle Press. For more: www.milenawilliamson.com