Poetry by Jeremy Dixon

                   William Clifford CC




​nightclubbing with Spring-Heeled Jack

here I am in the queue to get in
push past purrs Spring-Heeled Jack

here in front are new people to know
be a bitch grins Spring-Heeled Jack

here am I too cool to dance
quite right nods Spring-Heeled Jack

here is the man who lets you in free
more drinks shrieks Spring-Heeled Jack

and here is a man who smiles at the bar
drink more roars Spring-Heeled Jack

so I slap the base of his pint and
OOPS! smirks Spring-Heeled Jack and

we howl as beer splatters his face and
LEG IT! yells Spring-Heeled Jack

here is what leaps beneath my skin
here is how we terrify

his ghost feet glide
his fire eyes flame





beginners Yoga with Spring-Heeled Jack 

don’t relax says Spring-Heeled Jack
this is everything we can’t stand 

we don’t do as we are told
we won’t lie down quietly

we don’t care about balance
we won’t recite Sanskrit out loud

and we don’t sing here you ponce
a furious hiss and a jab to the ribs

from a boy you can’t name
during first year assembly

see all it’s bought is bad memories
and just how did Dorian Gray die

say Namaste breakdown
you think you’re hilarious

sssshhh I’m the Child of Prague
one day you will chant in a temple 

don’t you dare try and save me
see it’s released something already





at Lake Crystal with Spring-Heeled Jack

hmm he says this is what happens
when you’re left alone

hiding in dormitories
avoiding mealtimes 

fearing ripped men
worked up on the water 

remember death doesn’t scare us now
monsters are always well hidden

they are capable
we lurk beneath the gleam 

the ghost of every black eye
a knife of shining bruises
​

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Jeremy Dixon (he/him) is a queer poet and maker of Artist’s Books from Cardiff, Wales. His poems have appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Found Poetry Review, HIV Here & Now, Impossible Archetype, Lighthouse Journal, Riptide Journal, Roundyhouse and other print and online magazines. His debut poetry collection IN RETAIL was published by Arachne Press in 2019.  

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