An ekphrastic poem, inspired by Peter Juvonen’s painting, Mexican Hat Dance.

It’s an impossible-to-navigate party
of shark’s teeth and demon tails
a jigsaw puzzle of sixes
but for the couple snogging at the edge of the room
behind a screen that’s too short to do its job

That path straight out of Joe Versus the Volcano
is the only way to get from one side of the room to the other—
if you can shape-shift your way through the paper-thin spaces
make it past the mutant-Jagger tongue and the jagged edges
and tango with the pointy-toed dancer in the short skirt

I have a strange relationship with sleep these days

(29/30 October 2016)