Bohdan Piasecki
Cat’s Cradle
I rearrange a labyrinth avoid eye
contact with the rest look at my
phone instead check how I should
spend the next three decades however
long I have left I scream a formal letter
at my children DEAR SIR OR MADAM I AM WRITING
TO EXPRESS MY DISSATISFACTION I forget
why but I mean still I have worked hard
to deny the knife PLEASE CONSIDER THIS
MESSAGE MY FORMAL RESIGNATION stare down
opponents when I move a pawn sweat through my shirt
when the doorbell rings how can I be sure
no-one will get hurt
BOHDAN PIASECKI is a poet and translator from Poland based in Birmingham. His poem ‘Almost Certainly’ is shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed in 2023. Bohdan teaches Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.