Be clad in polka dots
scholar’s hat thrown
remembering the times of drought
waiting for something, anything real
water filling the cracks
of the morgue gone by
tell me, I said, of your distresses
tell me, I said, of your loves
isn’t it the terrible thing
that is over, goodbye
good news, I said, it is over
good news, I said, it is done
____________
Nicki Heinen is a London based writer, featured in publications such as PNReview, Poetry
Wales, Magma, and Bloodaxe’s Staying Human. Her 2017 pamphlet Itch was a London
Review Bookshop book of the year. There May Not Be a Reason Why, her debut collection,
was published with Verve Press in 2022.