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Fancy o Sick (or: A Brief History of My Innards)

Experimental poem. A surreal autopsy of obsession, love, and bodily memory โ€” equal parts curse, confession, and comedy.

By Paul StewartPublished 7 months ago โ€ข 1 min read
Fancy o Sick (or: A Brief History of My Innards)
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

dirt dirt stained grained

she spins me round,

ingrained and restrained

like a rotisserie chicken

derailed, resailed

in a dirty, rat-infested

impaled impala tala dala

low dining establishment

mulato delato dignitaries

that does not have an updated health inspection pass

-

dignitaries delato mulato

She makes me feel

dala tala impala impaled

like I am riding a wurly-bird

resailed, derailed

without functioning legs or I am

restrained and ingrained

grained stained dirt dirt

-

sick sick sick sick sick

sick o fancy sick o fancy

light prance shift dance

stem cell deviancy regency

-

regency deviancy cell stem

dance shift prance light

fancy o sick fancy o sick

sick sick sick sick sick

-

I want this to burn burn

in your mind, your heart

deep down, in your soul

wake and sweat, remember

-

remember, sweat and wake

soul your in, down deep

heart your, mind your in

burn burn to this want I

-

sword pointed downwards

downwards inwards

forwards towards

innards, passed sinew

surprised? but you knew.

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: Experimental. A curse. A confession. A comedy. A whole lot that means a lot whole lot.

Here are some other things:

artfact or fictionheartbreakinspirationalMental Healthperformance poetrysad poetrysurreal poetrysocial commentary

About the Creator

Paul Stewart

Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.

The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection out now!

Streams and Scratches in My Mind coming soon!

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  2. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

  3. Eye opening

    Niche topic & fresh perspectives

  1. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  2. On-point and relevant

    Writing reflected the title & theme

  3. Masterful proofreading

    Zero grammar & spelling mistakes

  4. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

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Comments (5)

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  • Imola Tรณth7 months ago

    This "rotisserie chicken" image definitely burned into my mind. Every time I read it the poem comes with a slightly different meaning to me. I like your experiments :D

  • Euan Brennan7 months ago

    An experiment and a hit, I must say, Paul. I kinda took it as though it was how the heart would speak if you gave it a mouth. Everything would come pouring out in a sort of convoluted, all-at-once mess because of how much it feels. (not saying your poem is a mess!! It has structure and depth, and I'm sure I'm missing a lot of its meaning, lol).

  • Mother Combs7 months ago

    Well, the poem is brilliant as always, Paul, but that image is burned into my head

  • D.K. Shepard7 months ago

    Consider it burned! Very memorable (and sometimes disturbing) lines! "rotisserie chicken" and "rat-infested" certainly caught my attention. A pleasure as always to read your experimental pieces!

  • Silver Daux7 months ago

    Yeah, this is dope. You have such a fun experimental style with words that always hooks me. I love that I can read and re-read your work. Loved this!

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