Imran Boe Khan has recent work appearing, or forthcoming, in places such as the Rumpus, Cosmonauts Avenue, Yes, Poetry, and Sixth Finch. A previous winner of the Thomas Hardy Prize, Khan is a lecturer at Bournemouth University, and lives in Christchurch, Dorset.
—
When You’ve been Assigned the Addict
It begins with the one person you love
growing accustomed to the pleas, the threat
of a goodbye tied to an internet history. Trust
can be melted like ice, all that’s needed is the right
heat – a betting slip on the sofa, a Merlot under
the sink, the weight of a one night stand creased
in a brow. Forget the hands of their mistakes, forget
the sickness holding their form. There are too many
windmills smashing into too many neurons to bother
waiting for the version of you a little more merciful
than yesterday. I have gained nothing from what I have
waited for. No return could mask this abandonment.
A prodigal son is nothing but impermanence.
—
ISACOUSTIC* 