Born in 1945 in London, Selima Hill's collections include A Little Book of Meat (1993), Trembling Hearts in the Bodies of Dogs (1994) and Violet (1997), all published by Bloodaxe Books. Violet was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Award. 'Taffeta' is taken from her new collection, Bunny, published last month by Bloodaxe, and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
It hasn't stopped raining for days and she's stiff with cold
and the prickly taffeta dress he is pinning her into
and walking her up and down and twirling her round in
sticks like ice against the skinny body
the lodger has himself designed the dress for -
as skinny as a deep-frozen rabbit
that didn't want a dress and wanted fur and let itself be stripped and given sweets
and didn't want to thaw
and couldn't speak.