by Luke Horsey
this city was meant to be the surrogate father of the prank
that was played in my first love’s arms, back on the north London fringe in my teens
and now you’re recycling the joke: it may well have been salt you were rubbing into my back
as I folded in your arms like a concertina in Place des Vosges
and you told me, ça va aller
you, like a knock-knock, had your script: your sweet words
whispered in my ear like a setup, in a tabac just by Pigalle
my love was antiquity, yours was burlesque—but I have my past
and my way of getting offended by jokes no one’s making
as I walk down Rue Mouffetard with your poisson d’avril on my back
and April was the perfect month for you to pull this routine: silly, little lovesick me
ignoring your jokes on the metro, caught off guard by some suggestion of a rebirth
because I used to think London was the punchline, and Paris would be the clapback
and yet, the only clapping I’m hearing now is from the live audience watching you
proclaiming que des amis to me out on the busy terrasse
no wonder I spent this year toddling about with a Vogue in my mouth, trying to look serious
passing much tighter bodies and making souls periodically laugh
this is the city of lights, and I’m the clunky rosbif with the sad, old look in my eye
and a hilarious take on love. so come on, call me “darling” en tant que pote
for old times’ sake, and slap a fucking fish on my back
Tunnel Top
by Thomas Vogt
Luke Horsey is an MA French and Music student at the University of Glasgow and an English tutor from Hertfordshire, England. His poetry is much conditioned by queer experience and psychoanalytic theory, as well as by his studies at Sorbonne Université, Paris. His writing has been featured by the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Dead Cat Poetry Prize. He can be found on Instagram @luke.horsey
Thomas Vogt is an aspiring poet, photographer, and city planner in Sacramento, California. He enjoys capturing the “everyday” through a pen, a lens, or behind a mug at your local coffee shop. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Quibble, Radar Poetry, Burningword, LIT Magazine, and others. He can be found at bsky.app/profile/tele-vision.bsky.social and @___television
Ignatian Literary Magazine 