A new poem by 2021 Biggs Family Poetry Prize winner Leah Dodd.

oh, the places I won’t go!

doctor, I have no brains in my head nor feet in my shoes
my shoes are full of coastal sand and my head
is full of green Goosebumps slime

doctor, I will not be going overseas for an OE
I will not be eating peaches in Portugal
or spoons of Turkish honey

doctor, I am afraid of the waiting place
I want the bright places, the boom
bands, even… the poogle-horns

doctor, are you a real doctor?
doctor, I have googled it
and learned that in fact

you were not
but your overbearing father
wanted you to be

doctor, I am in a slump
have you ever been in a slump?
from what I just learned about your father I think yes

doctor, my belly is full of olives and mushrooms
my fingers are coated in cheap
grease and shame

change is brewing
like a garden potion full of
children’s palm blood and piss

doctor, I was kissed
on moss-dark rocks by a tide pool
at dusk and I don’t even care

you died six years before I was born
but doctor, I am so stuck
can you help me?

The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are currently closed and will open again soon.