Description
Sub/urban Legends features twenty-four poems by Pam Thompson, including Whitby Jet, which was longlisted in the Mslexia Poetry Competition, 2017. It was the winning pamphlet in the Paper Swans Press Pamphlet competition 2023, judged by renowned poet and lecturer, John McCullough.
Whitby Jet
The fires are still burning on the beach. What if told you I stole it. No,
I don’t know where your sister went. When I last saw her she was off her tits,
clinging on to that kid from school. What if I told you I hurt someone. Little
bastard would grass anyone up to the teachers. Did I tell you when. What if I
told you that I went right up behind the woman sat waiting for her husband.
Ring her if you’re that bothered. Probably gave him the slip, wandered off.
What if I told you that I pulled so hard that the chain cut her neck. Idiot said
that his house had been struck by lightning. I loved it when we loaded the car
with cans. Who threw the match? What if I told you that she squeezed her eyes
shut and all her mascara was running. If you’re that worried. What if I said that
it was easy. This black rose tattoo on my shoulder where you kissed it that time
when we. Kissed it. Black lipstick. What if I told you I stole it so I could
hold it against your white neck to cool you down. If I told you will you stop
going on about your sister.
