I want I want I want!

By Emily Donoher

I want to flirt

like an avoidant cat

you can’t stroke

and write

like Aphra Behn

all wit and wanton

delighting in a soft man’s

disappointment

I want be heard

like a prophet

with a megaphone

the size of Canada

I want unlimited wishes

and psychedelic snowflakes

that lace the masses

with a fleeting anarchy

and gibbons playing violin

on every street corner

wearing bowties that spin

and crowds that sing

for no particular reason

other than they can

I want an x-files reboot

and moons for nipples

and an apology

from the government

instead of an apology

for a government

I want to get fat

I get airlifted

to Sainsbury’s

each time I run out of milk

but I don’t run out of milk

because I live on a farm

with a dazzling abundance

of cows and a man

who brings me milk

each night before

returning to his barn

I want to be loved

and let loose

like a horse

without a saddle

and be free

but not so free

I forget the art

of landing

on your lap

in my home

on my knees

and you turn

and say:

it is a kind of

prayer

what you do

to me