This one goes out to all the cc babcocks of the world

The angelica pickles the regina georges the
omarosas the cruellas the ursulas
because your parents naming you ursula never gave you a chance
They say in a world full of marilyns be an audrey
They say why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free
They say lots of things these disembodied voices
always peering at you through the crack of your wardrobe
waiting for you to fuck up
Like narnia except it’s inhabited by boring bitches
who spell out maxims in slices of turkish delight
staining the furs at the threshold with their misogynistic sweets
Funny how the white queen is the villain in that story
And how in Cuckoo’s Nest nurse ratchet is an apt representation
of the ills of the psychiatric industrial complex
That women are the best functional analogy
for the evils in the world that come from men
In a world full of nancy kerrigans be a tonya harding
Stop at nothing especially any form of self-acceptance
Stop at nothing slice the ice like the false concept of a US Figure Skating Association
     meritocracy
In a world full of white lace and conservative music choices
Sew your own costumes and have your life ruined
by a man who never knew your true value in the world
In a world full of spineless losers break a leg
Break nancy kerrigan’s leg
In a world full of rules designed to scratch other people’s backs and gouge yours
Grow a skin so thick an angle grinder couldn’t buff through
Take all your hurt and make it a new costume
Tear out your rival’s perms for frills
Stitch sequins in place of your eyes
Bury your shame so deep in shoulder pads it suffocates
I am getting better at bleeding in public
twirling my feelings like ribbons on the rink
crying and scraping my bare soles against the ice
The most hysterical curling competition of all time
In a world full of dreams live long enough for them to
become nightmares and just keep going keep going
be braver than I can skate like you’re dying and never look back

First published by Cordite, 2018.