Hannah Copley

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Denim

I had to lay down
in the changing room
and pull up the zip
with a clothes hanger
but when I came out
the shop assistant
smiled and said
they’re perfect!
and I smiled back
and said they feel
amazing! and I paid
and walked out
of the shop
still fastened in.
And two weeks later
{when I came apart}
in a Marks and Spencer’s
multi-story car park
the blue seams held
together for the two
minutes it took
to hurry across
menswear shoes
and the food
court past the fresh
food counter
selling quiches
and the bunches
of orange and red
flowers near
the chocolates
and magazines
to the only room
that would accept
what I had come
to return. And
while I walked
and did not look
at the other
people’s faces
the emptiness
in my stomach
bloomed a black
flower for them
and the ligature came
loose and I knew
that soon they
would fit my hips
as if they had
been sewn with
just these bones
in mind.

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HANNAH COPLEY’s poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in POETRY, Stand and Under the Radar. Her debut collection is forthcoming with Carcanet: Northern House.