CASSANDRA

Jill Abram

If you move the tiller right, the boat will go left she said, but he didn’t want her telling him what to do. They had to wait for a bigger boat to pull them off the bank.

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Turn right here she said, but he couldn’t imagine it would be down that dirt track. It was more than a mile before they could turn around.

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I didn’t do it she said, but he, who had done it, told them it was her before they even asked. He was given a promotion and she was taken off the project.

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It really hurts she said, but he couldn’t see anything wrong and discharged her. She collapsed in the doorway and was rushed to hospital.

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No! she said, but he chose to believe she didn’t mean it.

Poet, producer and presenter Jill Abram is autistic, has Jewish heritage and lives with fibromyalgia. She grew up in Manchester, travelled the world and now lives in Brixton. She has performed her poems across Britain and beyond, including at Ledbury, StAnza, and Verve Poetry Festivals and in Paris, New York, Chicago and online. Publications include The North, The Rialto, Magma, Poetry Scotland, Poetry Wales, Ink Sweat & Tears, And Other Poems and Harana. Jill was Director of the influential collective Malika’s Poetry Kitchen for 12 years. Her pamphlet, Forgetting My Father, was published by Broken Sleep Books in May 2023. jillabram.co.uk