Jessamine O Connor comes from Dublin and lives in rural Sligo. In 2011 she won the iYeats and Francis Ledwidge awards, in 2012 was short-listed for the Bradshaw Books manuscript competition, and in 2013 for the Hennessy awards, the Dead Good Poetry competition and the Red Line Book Festival poetry competition. Her poems have been published in various journals and her first chapbook "Hellsteeth" is available from www.jessamineoconnor.com

Jessamine O Connor

---

Page 1 | 2

Stubble

There's something unsavoury
about a smooth man.

I can't even put my cheek
against a newly shaved face,
the texture of processed cheese.

I like a man to bristle,
to slightly scratch,
to be nearly invisibly abrasive,
not to just adhere.