"The Tequila Shot", "Lilypad", and "Three Musketears" by Victoria Punch

The Tequila Shot ~

long lick of the tail feather flick

tapering tail like a grass blade

glass blade shoot

of a cry and a gulp and a green

shot salt on your tongue

and creature compelling

lime wedge green

long tail of a glass beaker

the tequila shot parakeeter

singing like a loon

you are a tune to make music to

~ Parakeet

Lilypad ~

I lie on the surface

as flat as I can

my edges hold tension

like nothing else I

can float on the pressure beneath

held by the density of

my own suspension,

my skin is a place to land

bah-bah

leaving ripples out wide

water and air,

bom-bom,

I keep beat

I am circle and snare

ts-ts

reeds brush my belly

so softly by handfuls,

I shiver and hear the soft

watersnake hiss

at the water line.

tell me my rhythm

as I float on by

~ Drum

Three Musketears

Mould iron on the

Anvil mass

Low through the rumble of the

Long handled sound

Everything shakes

Under my

Stare

I am

Not a victim of the

Crash and the

Underscore – I am the receipt I am the

Steward, I am the strength under it all

Swing up,

Take your seat

And stabilise your shaking limbs

Press into my flanks, be held in the

Eye of my

Sound

Victoria Punch is a voice coach and musician. Curious about voice and identity, the limits of language and how we perceive things; her poetry comes from these explorations. Published in the6ress, The Mum Poem Press (guest ed. Liz Berry) and Sledgehammer Lit. Forthcoming in Nightingale & Sparrow. Found on Instagram and Twitter @victoriapunch_