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Pop CultureJanuary 24, 2025

The Friday Poem: ‘Fleeced’ by Zoë Deans

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A new poem by Zoë Deans.

Fleeced

just call me Hemingway
because I’m earnest

get it? I’m always falling for it, always saying
“really?”

mammal-eyed me, begging
for the next epiphany,
gagging for the magic, hot for sweetness
and spring. tell me the stories
of the world bounding along
all lambs and glee!

I’m too gullible for late stage
snark and fatalism
but the only thing to get us through
beyond sheer animal luck
is sheer animal committal

so I’m going all in, always
having to peel my shirt away from my body
like a slinkskin orphan

roast me! go on, char the baby curls
off my bony tail, tear into that
grease and gristle
while I’m still right here,

mukbang
for the sore-hearted.

 

The Friday Poem is brought to you by Nevermore Bookshop, home of kooky, spooky romance novels and special edition book boxes. Visit Nevermore Bookshop today.

The Friday Poem is edited by Hera Lindsay Bird. Submissions are currently closed.

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