Relax—Don’t Do It - Adele Evershed

Today a woman went mad in the supermarket / it could have happened anywhere
really / the only surprising thing was / it had taken her so long / to despair

she licked her lips by the frozen fish / tasting all the sweat / and tears / and lost
oceans / so she became as elemental as the tilt of the earth

unfurling amongst the pots of pears / she was an orphaned negative / grown in
Argentina / packed in Thailand / and found on a Sainsbury’s shelf in Aberdare

in the concrete car park / all the barren trees / fenced in and wound in fairy lights /
twinkled like the dying stars / as she was wound in blankets / and told to just relax

Originally published by Selcouth Station 2022

Adele Evershed was born in Wales. Her prose and poetry have been widely published. She has been nominated for the Best of the Net for poetry and the Pushcart Prize for poetry and short fiction. Finishing Line Press published Adele’s first poetry chapbook, Turbulence in Small Places, in July. Her Novella-in-Flash, Wannabe, was published by Alien Buddha Press in May. Her second poetry collection, The Brink of Silence is available from Bottlecap Press.