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The Incident by Chloë Clarke

After the incident, it will not seem like a crime
has occurred. There will only be silence;
no noise, no police cars.
You will inspect the crime scene for signs of a break in;
for shattered glass, a broken door.
But you will find nothing.

 You will wonder what to do, who you should call;
whether you should call someone at all.

 But you won’t
call anyone,
tell anyone.

 Instead, you will try to remove any trace of the crime:
shower your body, scrub your skin raw,
wipe away tears you never got to cry.

 Then hang yourself out to dry.

 ---

 Chloë Clarke is a spoken word and performance artist who found herself in the poetry world after becoming Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate in 2014-2016. Chloë has been commended in the Foyles Young Poet of the Year award and has been published by Forward Poetry in ‘Simply Love – A Collection of Poetry. She has performed at the MAC Birmingham and headlined Worcestershire Litfest, while also running her own Open Mic night.  

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