Cool sulphur soaks the poison
                                            out of bones

              a body modified
                                      by lead
                                      wine
the poisoning of time
                                      which makes it money

            the coins of time                      sunk
                                                          in copper verdigris
a ripple of light
                        refracted on the ceiling
             voices float
                                               am I at sea here
                                      I swim
away from myself
                                               talk politics or cellulite

just off the ring road
                     an inner space slathered in nut oil

                                                for leisure read hypochondria
                                                retreat
                to the turquoise edge
                             of tonic and loss

                                                 I could dissolve
                                                              the ear submerged
we held our noses to drink the stuff
                                                          blood pulsing in the head
                                      the crackle of
           the nervous system                   bones
                                                                    in heavy water

 

Copyright © Zoë Skoulding, 2006.

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Zoë Skoulding is the author of The Mirror Trade (Seren, Bridgend, 2004), and is co-editor of Skald magazine. She lives in Anglesey, Wales.