Wild Court

An international poetry journal based in the English Department of King’s College London

‘And the award for best actress goes to’: a poem by Polly McCormack

 
 
 

    And the award for best actress goes to

 

The days bleed into each other
like a radiator. I have trained myself
to not think of you, it is my special talent.
I sing with Molly in the kitchen and pretend
I have always been fatherless.
Waking up in someone else’s house
is my best performance, wiping my shoes
on their doormat, like I have lived with them for
thirty years. Making breakfast in the kitchen,
like I picked out the tiles.
I pretend I am married to every person I sleep next to,
and in my dreams you gave a speech.

 
 

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Polly McCormack

Polly McCormack is a Bradford-born poet living in London. She completed her MA in Modern Literature from the University of Sussex in 2021. Her work has been published in Wild Court, The Hastings Review of Books and Tommyrot! Her poem ‘Maybe I Always Liked Bob Dylan I Just Didn’t Like You’ was shortlisted for the Black Cat poetry prize and is included in their upcoming anthology. She was a guest speaker at Blue Shout Poetry and has read at Sussex Poetry Festival, Hi Zero, Manchester Fringe Festival and the Hastings Bookshop Poetry festival amongst others.