The Laughter

I am a lover

of my own company.

We’ve worked hard, the one of us,

learning about myself –

when to stop pouring the milk,

how to tell when we’d like to go home

and excuse ourselves to the whir of the extractor

sliding over bathroom tiles, eyes meeting  

in the mirror like it’s a private joke.

Now I watch the grass flicker

knowing I’ve been too long without someone

and their terms, opening the curtains too early

on mine. What I wouldn’t give to have a friend ask

if we should move into the shade and think I’m okay

then follow.

I would die to hear us laugh:

to fall over each other at how funny it is

meeting these new edges of ourselves.

How hilarious these limits we are reaching –

how delightful that there’s no longer any choice

but to throw our heads back so far

that we smell our own neck in its collar.

Zoe Turner works in publishing in Manchester. She is the co-host of spoken-word night Verbose, and co-editor of The Book of Newcastle. She has previously had work published by Dear Damsels.

Jessica Andrews is the author of Saltwater and co-editor of The Grapevine. She writes fiction, poetry & journalism. She is currently working on her second novel.