Selected poems
Bold Type
We Helveticas are everywhere
down subways across shopping centres
hey heyyying on dating apps
s(t)olid pillars
tempting you into our cult
be like us we can give you
unencumbered lines
soft smooth curves
respectability & ineffability
none of those serif riff-raffs
uncouth fringe-dwellers
taking all sorts of liberties
protective membranes
that will hold you together
we are the ruling classes.
Saturday
There will be nothing
outside this room
beyond this bed
the moat around us
can be ringed with fire
let the world burn
there is only skin
osmotic in feeling
rippling in concert
so tell me of the labyrinth
coiled inside you
in the shrouded light
your eyelashes alone
their rapid beckoning
will turn tides in me
we can wax and wane
cortex flooded with
moonshine and wine.
Lost in IKEA
I reckon we’ve passed that Kivik three times remember that sage or is it khaki ottoman on the right of the Liatorp that everyone covets and the dumpy lumpy Parup found in all the share houses that ever existed we need to double up back trace to the beginning near the stegasaurus plushies bypass the fine pine ensemble of Jokkmokks again and all the Bissas and the Tjusigs and just follow the arrows and the numbered signs how hard can it be we are here aren’t we but no we are supposed to be there where the rugs are where is number 16 why are we still on number 8 we have seen that Pinnig four fucking times now and I still don’t want it in any of its colours it’s clearly mocking us with its sturdy lines that will never take less than six hours to assemble how long have we been here already wait is that a shortcut or a trap labyrinth if we follow it will we find the cocktail glasses or will we be taken back to Linnmon and the Lagkapten once again goddam this Borgesian nightmare I knew we should have eaten the meatballs first.
Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and a critic, editor and poet. She has two collections of poetry published by UWAP. Turbulence (2020) and just recently Decadence (2022).