A woman with long dark hair, wearing an off-the-shoulder white dress and blue bow, poses in front of a tree. She holds a pink ribbon and gestures with her hand as a white dove flies nearby against a dark sky.
Art by Kansas Smeaton, taken from the cover of Death Goddess Guide to Self Love

Pop CultureMay 2, 2025

The Friday Poem: ‘Commodiƒication of a brat’ by Carin Smeaton

Guest writer
A woman with long dark hair, wearing an off-the-shoulder white dress and blue bow, poses in front of a tree. She holds a pink ribbon and gestures with her hand as a white dove flies nearby against a dark sky.
Art by Kansas Smeaton, taken from the cover of Death Goddess Guide to Self Love

A new poem by Carin Smeaton, whose new collection, Death Goddess Guide to Self Love, published by Titus Books, was launched last week. The cover image is by Kansas Smeaton.

Commodiƒication of a brat

R.u.a
mean gurl?
Do u wanna b
punisht?
Or do u just need 2 get noticed more?
disassociating
One more time
At the rock pools
yr handmaidens are growing wearier
Every minute of the day
how theyr trying ur patience
With their insufferable loyalty
One by one melting into ur ego
As they massage deep into da crevices
It’s all fucken Golden
babe!
life!
& ur wearing it like a plush robe my G
Do u feel amazing yet?
Worthy enough for the current climate?
It’s getting hotter
Don’t ya think
More global than forecasted
But sun’s never been a problem in paradise
So whatever
(the weather)
Tension is carried like a curse
u know
(spinal)
Shaking us up at the bar
Especially in the tropics
Where we’ve been shitting on locals
Since
Earth n sea
the dawn of †ime
(but nm!)
One sudden move
And it cracks

 

The Friday Poem is brought to you by Nevermore Bookshop, home of kooky, spooky romance novels and special edition book boxes. Visit Nevermore Bookshop today.

The Friday Poem is edited by Hera Lindsay Bird. Submissions are now open. Please send up to three poems in a PDF or Word document to fridaypoem@thespinoff.co.nz

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