‘Cheques For Poetry’ by Róisín Kelly
When they come through the door
I buy hip-hugging dresses in rainbow paisley
or red-wine vintage velvet.
A new bra in lilac lace, one small diamond
studding the sternum. Endless
bitter black coffees and thick slices
of cake: some for you, some for me.
I feed you from my own fork.
Crumbling, fragrant lumps of marijuana.
While you smoke out the window
I stroke the dresses hanging in my closet.
My fingers smell of smoke these days
and a fine ash clings to everything that’s mine.
From issue #2: spring/summer 2016
About the Author
Roisín Kelly was born in Belfast, raised in Co. Leitrim, and currently lives in Cork city. Her work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Poetry Chicago, Synaesthesia, The Baltimore Review, The Penny Dreadful, Bare Fiction and Best New British and Irish Poets (Eyewear 2016).
