Holly Bars
Two Poems
Charged Man Released on Bail
The article says she took a knife,
yet didn’t intend to stab him. I get
that; I have also taken a knife
without intention.
Her boys say they miss their mum,
but they’re glad he’s dead.
What do you enjoy?
I do not tell them, knowing that as soon as I say trees, my mental health will be deferred to a prescription for wandering amidst oak, sycamore, ash x 2 daily. And then they’ll sign me off as a success. So I sit in the chair and look at the floor, rock my weight from side-to-side, and mimic my body trying to make space outside the box of itself. And I imagine I am holding a gun, because a gun is a question when it is pointed in someone’s face. I imagine pointing it in the face of Dr Steve, and he immediately knows his stupidity: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. He should know I cannot admit to enjoying anything other than psychopathic pleasure; I should make something up, but one day I might want children.
Holly Bars is a mature student currently studying at the University of Leeds. Holly’s poems have been published since January 2021 by Stand, The Moth, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Fragmented Voices, Porridge, Visual Verse, and more, as well as appearing in anthologies. Her debut collection, Dirty, is available from Yaffle Press.
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