KAT DIXON
WORDS FALL OUT OF MY MOUTH LIKE TEETH, CRUMBLING
The grappa’s made from cumin here. La Trebbia bursts its banks three times a year. Mountains disgust themselves, shed rocks, fill roads.
I haven’t understood a word since Tuesday, aspetta, Monday afternoon. The longest conversation is with Mina, who asks how many times I’ll throw her ball. Dov’è la pallina, Mina, dov’è?
Fortunately, I speak the language of focaccia well. When the table laughs in unison, I bite my cheek, sip salt, lick blood, snort rosemary. Really, I could spit.
A line of mountain is unbothered by a line of cloud. That mountain has been there for centuries. To the mountain, the cloud is a few half-seconds of vapour, indistinguishable from sky. To the mountain, the cloud is just the English girl who eats too much cheese, then vanishes.
An impression is being made.
This morning I almost talked about lunch. Your mother cuts me off if I’m not quick enough. The prosciutto knife does conversation too.
Eyebrows can be noisy. Your father’s across a dinner table. Voices are raised and I cannot tell if it is a real fight or too much salt in the soup. He points to my empty glass of beer. Sì, grazie.
At night, I walk barefoot on stone. The air gets slicker deeper in the forest. I catch my toes in soil, falter, chase sparks that vanish.
On leaving, I learn it is the time of year. Lucciole, ma certo. Fireflies taste of sour pears and swallowed words.
The Winning Poet
Kat Dixon is a queer writer based in London. Her poetry explores the intersections of modern life, social justice, and queer identity in a rapidly changing world.
Kat’s debut poetry book eat the glitter is published with Broken Sleep Books. She performs regularly at theatres, pubs and festivals.
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You can find Kat’s writing in The Rialto, Magma, fourteen poems, Butcher’s Dog, Queerlings, Mslexia, The Letters Page, Southbank Poetry, Perverse, Sideways Poetry Magazine, Tears in the Fence, New Boots and Pantisocracies, Ink Sweat & Tears, Impossible Archetype, Bluebird and others; Her work has been published in anthologies such as Spectrum Anthology, Re:Creation Anthology and 10 Poets Travel to the Dark Side of the Moon with Sidekick Books.
Kat’s work has been shortlisted for various prizes, including the Café Writers Prize, Verve Poetry Prize, the Rialto Pamphlet Prize, Sentinel Prize, Mslexia single poem prize, Waltham Forest Poetry Prize and the Ver Prize. Her poetry has been nominated for a Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.
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Kat has taught at festivals and events including the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Oxford Poetry Library and The Poetry School, sharing ideas on the role of AI tools in the creative process.
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She enjoys working in multimedia and produced poetry-objects such as fortune cookies filled with poetry and hand sanitiser poetry labels. Her poet-sculptor collaboration at APT Gallery with Dexter Dymoke explores how words intersect with visual play.
