Pascale Petit: I asked if I could leave the earth

but no one answered.

I looked in the mirror and one side of my face

was fighting the other side.

My mouth was a pit into which they threw the dead,

my teeth the rubble of bombed buildings.

There was a word for what was wrong with me

but no word for the troubles on earth.

I saw that my lashes were barbed wires

that would cut anyone who looked into my eyes,

my eyes that pleaded to escape.

Copyright 2023 Pascale Petit

Pascale Petit was born in Paris and lives in Cornwall, UK. She is of French, Welsh, and Indian heritage. Her eighth collection of poetry, Tiger Girl (Bloodaxe, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize and for Wales Book of the Year. Her seventh, Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe, 2017), won the inaugural Laurel Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. Her debut novel, My Hummingbird Father, is due from Salt in 2024 and her ninth collection, Beast, from Bloodaxe in 2025.