By Emi Sharples
the smell of my new ‘taxi driver’ perfume
orange juice from grey dining hall
smoking
mint tea from the forest at home
replaying that perfect four-song run near the beginning of the album
hashbrown
deleting hinge
tracing the line of muscle memory i have for my favourite karaoke song
irn bru before they changed the recipe
that sense of endearment for claypath deli even though their tables always wobble
thinking ‘i should start a playlist’, getting four songs in, and then never using it again
making eye contact with the security guys at tesco when i’m buying for pres but not sure what to say since ‘thank you’ doesn’t feel an appropriate response to them just being there
marvelling at evening light shining through windowpanes of somewhere so familiar
bringing you up all the time
imagining the colours of bedroom in arles in my mind’s eye
breaking the habit
the opening chords of eagles’ “take it easy”
deleting hinge again
having the same elated response to seeing cheese scones on the menu
singing the guitar solos with more vim than the rest of the song
laughing a little too loud at your jokes then feeling silly and like i’m in a panopticon and everyone saw that and now knows what i didn’t want them to know
falling asleep at afters on red wine nights
revelling in the feeling i might have finally changed
never changing my order (i know what i like)
exchanging poems with friends and not feeling so stupid in putting words on a page
reapplying the lipstick i landed on as ‘my colour’ when i was seventeen
obsessive to-do lists
having a favourite mug (with the slogan “gym? i though you said gin”)
using brackets in my writing after my favourite english teacher told me i was above that
never being able to delete concert videos in case i forget them
guessing what you’re listening to
updating my halloween costume list
feeling a sense of myself return when i stumble upon a beautiful sunset
novelty socks
writing letters to people i’ll never send and mentioning details that are a little too specific and consequently not being able to publish that writing so now i’m stuck
writing this list of addictive things
Featured Image: Emi Sharples