Poetry by Charlotte Amelia Poe

Beverley Goodwin CC



​
to kill or destroy


you look like a mistake i made

say i'm a pretty little victim

quote "to kill or destroy" end quote

sacrificial lamb and the slaughter is -

oh, darling, beautiful! 

i bend my limbs like bowing willows

and i have never been as ready to die,

as i am right now

you hurt me because you say

that meat is better tenderised

and the bottoms of my feet are ribboned raw

from all the running i've been doing

if i forget how to speak then maybe

i've done something right

burning up like a fever and i'm too damn high

to ever come down

you want me in the margins of pages

you want me made small by your love

and -

say "immolation" like blood stream ready destruction

because, and you know this,

i'm all about big words and little lies.

​



Charlotte Amelia Poe (they/them) is an autistic nonbinary author from England. Their first book, How To Be Autistic, was published in 2019. Their debut novel, The Language Of Dead Flowers, was published in September 2022. Their second novel, Ghost Towns, was self published in 2023. Their second memoir, (currently untitled), will be published in 2024. charlottepoe.com