ellen renton

Two men are having a barbecue and it is

so boring          I can hear a potato salad

being explained from two garden-

widths away and how did flavour

become dull          I want to read and be

somewhere else but I can travel no further

than Homebase where a grill was purchased

or the twisting queue at a local butchers’

where burgers were sourced          There is

nothing worse than a conversation 

or a barbecue that you weren’t invited to

The men talk about the particulars

of a skewer          the unreal and absolute 

bargains          the alcohol in a pineapple marinade

          I used to think I couldn’t feel boredom

because my head was too much thoroughfare

but now, the question of firelighters 

has been raised          It might not be boredom 

at all          In fact I might be angry 

and it is much easier to say that my hands 

are in fists for a lack of something to do 

          I left my phone inside because it hurts

to look so I might as well be a man 

who yells himself heard          chicken skin 

is crisping          smoke is moving closer

and I can’t fathom what I used to find

in its smell

is a poet, performer, and theatre maker based in Edinburgh. Her work has been published in Magma and Gutter, and featured on BBC Radio Scotland. She received the Unlimited Emerging Artist Award in 2019.