cider teeth
by Tempest Miller
Soho shakes as he walks through
combat boots, Carnaby street, leather jacket
his collar turned up leaning on the black bollard
a fake cigarette in his mouth, the colour pattern too blocky
he has sunglasses
the clouds are darkening
crows go across the sky
he thinks about dildos in his arse
he puts his hand in his top coat pocket
creamy beads silver pearls
he lifts them slightly from his chest and sucks them in the street
in his mouth, they look like horse reins
and this horse cart walks on and rests on a little iron bench
he looks vulnerable with the beads in his mouth. His arthropod mouth organ.
anyone would
for sacheting drunk up and down Soho
he wishes his teeth weren’t dirty from Strongbow.
he wishes certain people went away.
he wishes the houseboy was coming
naked except his underwear on a motorbike
and that he would pull up in front
and get on and get off and get on in front of him
and he could touch himself watching his naked knees
fill and unfill with muscle hooking and unhooking
from a Hunter S Thompson gonzo thrill ride
where his erotic delusions do not stem
it’s fancy town with fancy dress
but let’s relax in Wetherspoons
until 3 in the afternoon.
He looks in the direction of Trafalgar
he sees people swarming a woman in knee highs
paparazzi
he feels such rising bile
he puts his hands in his locks, Banquo
he tastes fermented cucumbers, skipping gay Ronald McDonald
what about him? traversing from Heathrow to inner London
braiding on anxiety pills from Cardiff to Devon
why is he here?
everything they look at is a lie
everything they love is Hell
he crosses his legs, uncrosses them
he sends himself back behind the arras
must erect a curtain between here and there
His face darkens
He slouches
becomes old very old
as he pulls another golden strongbow from his shoe bag.
Photo of Tempest Miller
BIO: Tempest Miller (he/him) is a queer writer from the UK. He publishes a monthly chapbook on Amazon. His work has appeared in JAKE, Boats Against the Current and Swamp Pink. His instagram is @tempestm1ller.