Cecilia Knapp
you have a childhood
uncles in Mondeos
big pine scent
women assembling
meat platters in the kitchen
one water slide in Tenerife
that sun burn on your back
after all this
you have cork coasters
cheese plant splaying
in the tiny basement flat
somehow, a husband
cupboards of butter beans
suspended in their own juices
an ageing father who stains
his white beard with soup
you have a set of generic passions
that it’s much too late to change
repeat them after me
then every single day
don’t worry
no one knows
how they landed in their life
how you’re swimming now
in this loch
where on occasion
nuclear subs are known
to drill, dispatched
from the other side
where the shoreline is industrialised
they glide deep and steady
missiles tucked
into their chambers
and as you swim
ice floats beside you
thin as crisps
this is so good for me
this is so good for me
the micro plastics charging
through your blood
the eggs inside you waiting
Cecilia Knapp is a poet and novelist. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig was published by Corsair in 2022. Her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press. Her second novel Lack is forthcoming May 2026.
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