was a drug store,
antiseptic saliva
dripping down shelves,
pooling on my lap.
I found enlightenment
in a pack of paracetamol
gagging on powder
& purity.
I cleansed my hands & heart
because one day
there’d be fingers on me —
my body,
diseased.
~~
Ella Newman is currently completing her undergraduate degree in philosophy. She was long-listed for the Hive Young Writer’s competition, has had three creative essays published by Nowhere Girl Collective, and was a winner of Birmingham Tree People’s ‘Trees Please, Poetry Please’ competition.
