share


Bad Daughters

After Frannie Choi

 

leaving, good daughters staying home with the light switched on. bad daughters find

god in the pulpit of a man, lay their ear to his chest and listen to the hum of his

holy spirit. good daughters wash the dishes, bad daughters wash in rivers under

an unfolding moon, dance as the silver splits their skin. bad daughters sip

and then gulp and then swallow, good daughters smile without show-

ing teeth bad daughters pick at the skin around their thumbs

praying the loose end will keep unravelling, bad daughters

fray, only when they are alone, especially when they

know god is not listening, good daughters ask

for permission and forgiveness, bad daugh-

ters take what is there, swear

they’ll never do it again,

promise to be better

in the morning.


ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

is a Brit(ish) poet, born to a Jamaican mother and a Nigerian father. Based in South London, Lola uses her work to explore blackness, family, and loss. Lola is currently a member of Griot’s Well, is an alumn of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective and Barbican Young Poets, and was a finalist in the 2021 Roundhouse Poetry Slam.



READ NEXT

fiction

Issue No. 15

Haircut Magazine

Luke Brown

fiction

Issue No. 15

I. I used to worry about how much more intelligent and successful I would be if I hadn’t spent...

Art

May 2011

Twelve Installations

Lawrence Lek

Art

May 2011

These installations express the transience of our sensory world, the impermanence of form, and the artificiality of our environment....

feature

January 2016

Suite

Pierre Senges

TR. Jacob Siefring

feature

January 2016

‘Suite’ was born of an invitation Pierre Senges received to contribute to an anthology on the future of the novel (Devenirs...

 

Get our newsletter

 

* indicates required