Malbec the colour of happiness
Slopped Dropped in a flush In a glass
In a rushed hush In a toast Warms the throat
Doesn’t look too shabby No it Makes
Me into me myself and me (I) is a
Cabbage butterfly ROCKING the drinks order
Swaggering through a vintage red See it
Doesn’t have to be expensive actually but
It’s the history swishing round my
Tonsils and my sexy Elf lip stain which
I wouldn’t usually buy but I just got a Boots
Advantage card which is basically Real life Don’t
You think No it’s spitting I mean splitting
The bill same all ways and not just
Paying for your own Thing like you don’t have
To get the calculator for your Diet Coke and
Whisper about tipping for ten minutes straight
No a Malbec is like a Wednesday poetry night at
The old community centre It’s probably
Healthy and I won’t embarrass myself cos We
Real Cool yeah I quote Gwendolyn Brooks
And swill my heart about and swoon and
Wine is an accessory to a FANTASTIC crime
E.g. stealing from corporations Or giving head
To an angel in the club bathroom stall Walls
Ice cream ain’t as cool as me All big Swig again
Pig out on the third most expensive item on
The specials list cos I’m worth it Perfect Like a
Rat who’s just become a field mouse and
Red is really the most annoying colour It
Fucks me up Slips my Freud and opens my
Mouth To say I think I I actually
You know I think it’s very inconsiderate
How the world is Bad bags are 10p now and God
Glugs a stabbing glass Kill me Please Fucking Wow
Please get this scarf-coloured drink out my Hand Now
Anna Jones is a third-year English Lit student and poetry enthusiast. A regular on the Young Poets Network, she has been published online by The Poetry Society, and her poetry was used for the wellbeing project ‘Steph’s Poetry Space’ in schools across the country. In 2023, Anna was offered a place at the Tower Poetry Summer School, which hosted sixteen young poets at Christ Church College, Oxford, with the aim of developing their writing and critical skills. In 2024, she was published in Heroica’s debut anthology ‘Body Odyssey,’ which centred on the themes of girlhood, bodies, and belonging. Most recently Anna hosted a charity poetry slam with Store Bought Flowers, the Cardiff Uni zine.