What’s My by Paul Brookes

reflection say as I polish
Worktops, my hair frizzes in soft focus,

scrub these stainless steel
spoons in which these cheeks fatten,

kitchen window telescopes a thin,
Sliver, a cartoon alien stares back,

big eyes blink back flashed through
decorative glass mobiles. All aspects.

How can I go out
When I look like this?

I’ll polish these things
until I look good.

Paul Brookes was poetry performer with “Rats for Love” and his work included in “Rats for Love: The Book”, Bristol Broadsides, 1990. His first chapbook was “The Fabulous Invention Of Barnsley”, Dearne Community Arts, 1993. He has read his work on BBC Radio Bristol and had a creative writing workshop for sixth formers broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live.