The Incredible Contracting Man - Andrew Darlington
Harvey wrestles briefly with his conscience,
it proves a devious adversary,
it favours some tricky holds,
pins him down to the canvas
in a headlock,
grapples him this way and that,
but the end is predetermined,
Ruth is way too tasty
to resist for long…
Ruth returns Harvey’s smile,
hands it back to him
in an empty pizza box,
she never liked it anyway,
something creepy about the sneery way
his lip curls up at the edge…
Ruth returns Harvey’s smile,
a bloodied twitching thing
while he groans in the corner,
the last time he’ll ever
badmouth her…
Joanne Raymond