The skull looks new,
although I could be wrong
because I’ve never seen a skull before now.
There’s a little piece of bone that sticks out
at the back,
like part of the body made a break for it.
It shifts like a gearstick and the top of the skull
pops open like a kettle,
revealing a second skull
spinning inside like soup in the microwave.
I wait for a sign, a noise,
to tell me that this one is ready.
Beth O’Brien is an English Literature student at the University of Birmingham. Her debut poetry pamphlet, Light Perception, was published by Wild Pressed Books in November 2019.
She is the Editor of Mad Hatter Reviews, a site that reviews books, e-books, theatre, music, and even the odd podcast. She is also a reviewer for Riggwelter, and has quite happily picked up a range of jobs that require her to write, whether that be travel articles, student blogs, or website content. She has had her poetry (and the odd short story) published in Foxglove Journal, Nine Muses Poetry, Dear Reader, Mused – the BellaOnline Literary Review, Eunoia Review, Pulp Poets Press, Peculiars Press, Picaroon Poetry, and Bonnie’s Crew.
