Poetry by Sarah Wallis
Fire Eater's Cough
Listen to Sarah reading her poem:
Sword swallower’s sore throat, juggler’s RSI,
an aerialist with the twisties and tightrope walker’s
vertigo – chemist, doctor and vet for circus tumbler
woes, most sent off with a potion, creams for bruises
and salve for egos, animals too, lion’s paw, tiger
choke and elephant tummy...
...but the morose fire
eater is tricky, addict to the flame is put on a strict
course of ‘no fire’, cold drinks and sorbets, ice cream
and forbidden the chilli coffee he’s partial
to until that cough improves and his red raw throat
whisper rasp is better – could he maybe switch
to juggling fire, instead, for now?
The flame bent fury in his face
muttered that he was a man much misunderstood.
Sarah Wallis is a writer living on the East Coast of Scotland, UK. Her latest chapbook, Poet Seabird Island, is available from Boats Against the Current. 2023 included poem art at Osmosis, podcasting with Eat the Storms and a winning story at The Welkin. Recent work is at Propel, in both digital and audio versions, Full Mood and The Winged Moon, who published Nightlight Over Lindisfarne, which is Pushcart nominated.