The words ‘artichoke’ and ‘heart’

teach things green and dulcet and pulse passionate.

If I could place one to the left of my breastbone,

live with its meaty core and thistly flower,

it’d choke something saline out of all of us.

When a lover tells me, keep it on a low //

heat, I want to tell them

you’ve peeled apart my clustered, budding

petals, condensed yourself between each layer.

*first published by Full House Press and Canned Magazine

Anisha Jackson (she/her) is a first-class Literature with Creative Writing graduate from the University of East Anglia. In 2020 she started the digital platform SIGNED, NEPAL for Nepali creatives. In September 2021 Anisha starts her MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths University, London. You can find her work in MIR Online, Ghost City Press and Porridge Magazine.