Emma Jeremy

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nothing is happening

i am walking through a house
that i recognise from a long
time ago the walls are pink my
hands and my face when i look
in the mirror are pink i am not
lying when i say walking inside
is like peeling off an outer layer
of skin it is cold and the glass
on the windows is frosting no
one lives here not even me
which means there is no feeling
of sadness just nothing as my
bare feet walk on the dark wood
floor that no one is seeing the
tables all full of dried up brittle
flowers not in the shape of a
name but in the shape of
nothing i have been here before
but the difference this time is a
safer feeling if nothing is living
nothing can die and since there
is nothing here i am able to
come back again and again and
always find nothing happening
each time i come here i leave
the dead pieces of myself
behind when i come back i can’t
find them

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EMMA JEREMY is a British poet, born in Bristol. She is a former winner of the New Poets Prize, and author of Safety Behaviour (Smith|Doorstop, 2019). Her debut collection sad thing angry was published by Out-Spoken Press in April 2023.