a literary journal

POETRY

The Unbecoming Beret


 

There is no suitable way

to wear a red beret

to a sexual health clinic.

Like a scarecrow at a crucifixion,

it makes a mockery of the blood

and crowning.

You go with the nurse in rubber shoes.

I wait with other men

and HPV posters.

I wince at the white smell,

fill in the paperwork

and tick for deliverance.