Thomas Dedola

Cambridge, UK

Thomas Dedola is an Italian poet based in Cambridge, UK. He has previously had pieces published in Felan, Nine Muses Poetry, Panoplyzine, Cathexis Northwest Press and has co-produced a Haiku anthology which was longlisted for a Saboteur Award in 2017.

poem completed 3rd March 2020

Christmas in Boston

It will be Christmas in Boston this year, they said
but I don't know if I'll make it.

In between four walls it's a struggle to
have fun, to be merry and gather all
the necessary equipment it takes
to raise these sunken eyes.

If people step gingerly on the streets above
I don't know: no one comes round any more.
I haven't felt this vexed since 2012;
I haven't felt this ostracised since the 40's.

I know they'd love it if they could hear me spit
lava, my voice crack like thunder, skimming
kidney stones across a flaccid ache but you know me -
I hate to disappoint.

Trust me, I'll be just as surprised as you when I've survived,
weighed down by the density of this unfairness:
it makes you want to break down in a taxi in Arbury,
amongst the aging stars and menstruating cars.

When the frost disembowels the March spring
and good girls give up, I will still be stuck in between
those four walls, eagerly waiting on those who
step gingerly on the streets above. 

It will be Christmas in Boston this year, they said
but I don't know if I'll want to make it.