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

poetry

Issue No. 20

Two Poems

Nisha Ramayya

poetry

Issue No. 20

JOY OF THE EYES   The future is not the beginning, but the forerunner, of a new intense-formation.  ...

Interview

March 2013

Interview with Billy Childish

José da Silva

Interview

March 2013

Buzzed in through the red metal door and down the stone steps into the bunker that is L-13. The...

feature

Issue No. 1

On the Notoriously Overrated Powers of Voice in Fiction or How To Fail At Talking To Pretty Girls

D. W. Wilson

feature

Issue No. 1

On a Tuesday afternoon in July, not too long ago, a friend of mine struck a pose imitating a...

 

Get our newsletter

 

* indicates required