a r k - d r e g /
s p a w n m o n s t e r
t o the t u n e o f razor snake
a n d two-timing v i r tue / derailed
my maximal share of good / uploaded
malfeasance / so lick me, Tarantulas / when
I tadpoled out like a knock-off Philoctetes w h a t / a n
y o u s w i s h e d y o u r tasselled a m p h i b i o u s m o r a l i t y
p s y c h o p a t h y / c l a i med a n d p i s s y aspect ratio viewing
m y s u p e r b l y t h i c k this especial grand scheme / energon
v e n o m f o r touched my skin / itched like mechanical
scarlatina / I wanted to lie down and burst /
b u t w e n t as a knock-off frog / the
f l e s h i e s t o uching me and failing
heart first / as I feast on gall /
b o w a t the chapped throne
of my spark’s limp agency
JAMES COGHILL is a UK-based poet who writes mainly on conservation and the natural world. He has been published in the anthologies Lives Beyond Us: Poems and Essays on the Film Reality of Animals and Birdbook: Farmland, Heathland, Mountain, Moorland, both Sidekick Books, 2015.