The Laughter
I am a lover
of my own company.
We’ve worked hard, the one of us,
learning about myself –
when to stop pouring the milk,
how to tell when we’d like to go home
and excuse ourselves to the whir of the extractor
sliding over bathroom tiles, eyes meeting
in the mirror like it’s a private joke.
Now I watch the grass flicker
knowing I’ve been too long without someone
and their terms, opening the curtains too early
on mine. What I wouldn’t give to have a friend ask
if we should move into the shade and think I’m okay
then follow.
I would die to hear us laugh:
to fall over each other at how funny it is
meeting these new edges of ourselves.
How hilarious these limits we are reaching –
how delightful that there’s no longer any choice
but to throw our heads back so far
that we smell our own neck in its collar.
Zoe Turner works in publishing in Manchester. She is the co-host of spoken-word night Verbose, and co-editor of The Book of Newcastle. She has previously had work published by Dear Damsels.
Jessica Andrews is the author of Saltwater and co-editor of The Grapevine. She writes fiction, poetry & journalism. She is currently working on her second novel.