Cecilia Knapp

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can I have it like that

like scratched
into brass like
an old name
of an unreasonable love
can I have it like
rinsed fruit
a good itch in a bad place
can I make it to the lamppost
before the song does
can I have some
of what he’s having
slack revellers
in a minty crowd of mouths
can I have a vodka tonic please?
can you smell me on your hands
like finding blue glass
in the river’s mud
can you hear me
I want a gut full of nothing hurts
just one easy gesture
gas cracked from a knuckle
pop— something like
a blanket on grass
the day cooling
on bare forearms
I wasn’t always like this
I swear I had it once
a swimming pool
caught glinting
from the window of a plane

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CECILIA KNAPP was the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. Her collection Peach Pig is published by Corsair. Her novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press.