Phoebe Eccles
Territory
i’ll never hurt you again i say to the cow
we are drinking green jugs of eliminator that green is the pride
of my liver
to be without hurt is an elegant ending says the cow
at the party inside the pupil of the cow’s eye
we are singing hollaback girl by gwen stefani
the cow is girlishly small we do the st. bernard’s waltz
i too am a girl in pink shiny taffeta a ruffle covers the unusual
shape of my hips i go out and in and out like a conversation
you can fix that says the cow
it wants to see me chopped up and squeezed through a letterbox
my pink dress has a ribbon from neck to wrist i use this as a
rhythmic aid we swing
the neighbours leap out from the cake they have been hiding all
this time in the frosting
we have to work tomorrow they say
tone of voice communicating that this isn’t the kind of work
that uses chairs but it will certainly shape the luminous season
i used to sleep in sandwiches says the cow
white bread is a mattress it flips
the party is a territory it seeks connectives
PHOEBE ECCLES has been published by magazines including Ambit, SPAM zine, Strix Leeds, (RE) An Ideas Journal and The Stinging Fly. She is from Hackney, London and currently lives in Glasgow, Southside.