Scared That He’ll Get Caught Without a Second Thought by Amra Khan
Remember when Cillian flipped
through a Canadian phonebook
looking for Kristin Kreuk
and when her mother picked up
apologising Kristin was out,
probably filming, Cillian’s heart
didn’t even skip a half beat
instead, cool as April rain, he left
a message to say he loved her
interpretation of Lana Lang
in Smallville and should her feet
ever kiss Irish soil, a pint
waiting in Dublin — and hung up.
That eve, we leered at each
bright star sparkling over the city,
even ones guarded by mist
and asteroids like angry fathers,
feeling like they had grown
close, in touching distance; somehow
Cillo had pulled them down
to fields we sat in sipping cheap beer
as passing cars lit each lick
of grass, ripe with rain, drops
sparkling, also in touching distance,
laughing like now we could
have anyone we wanted — though
we never tried.
~ Inua Ellams
Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright and performer. He has eight published books of poetry and plays. Poetry includes ‘Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars’ and ‘Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales’. His first play ‘The 14th Tale’ (a one-man show which he performed) was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival and his third, ‘Black T-Shirt Collection’ ran at England’s National Theatre. He is currently working on two volumes of poetry: #Afterhours – a pamphlet and ‘Of All The Boys of Plateau Private School’, his first collection.
Poet’s note: “I was writing an essay that involved visiting the grounds of my old secondary school and suddenly remembered early interactions with members of the opposite sex. This was a fleeting memory of a something that happened, that seemed heroic at the time, but later I came to see for what it really was… one of the many illusions men share with other men.”
“We leered at each/ bright star sparkling over the city,/ even ones guarded by mist/ and asteroids like angry fathers…” Poem of the Week (July 15), by Inua Ellams.
