Gift

This rockmelon is bloated with guilt
Sweet, near-rancid, on the knife’s edge of festering
Press down and it will oblige
Split, tear, scream
I eat until I am sick
Force transparent tainted spoon-carved flesh
Between roof and tongue
This rotting globe was bought for me
I consume a world and cannot breathe

Niamh Gallagher is a 20 year old writer, performer and vintage cookbook collector living on Gadigal land in Sydney, Australia. Her work has never been published, but her mum thinks she’s great.