---

This other me

awaits recovery;

FREE RESCUE 

from the cold, hard shoulder;

hoping for discovery.

This other me

Is the long, thin,

foetal twin

who crawls beneath my skin,

underneath my sleep,

grabbing hands and feet

which stray outside the cover,

dragging at my dreams

like a toxic lover.

This other me,

the one you never see,

is one who never fails

to trick reality;

is one adept 

at undermining gravity

to walk the line

between fixed points of sanity.

And I am tired

so tired,

I’m gone;

I’m done.

I’ll pack my bags,

And go back to the sun.

---

Virginia Betts is delighted to be an editor at Urban Pigs Press. She is also a tutor, writer, poet and actor from Ipswich. She has had four books published, The Camera Obscure (supernatural and gothic stories) Tourist to the Sun (poetry) and That Little Voice (poetry). Her debut novel, Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets was published by Urban Pigs Press. (cover by Cody Sexton!) She has also had numerous individual poems and stories published (Acumen, Minerva Rising, Bristol Noir, Urban Pigs Press, The Weird and Whatnot, Pure Slush, Anxiety Press), written for and  performed on stage, and BBC Radio. Virginia is also a member of Black and White Productions Theatre Company. Her most recent stage roles included Kate Bush, and Patricia Highsmith. Virginia is a member of The Writer’s Guild, Equity,The Wolsey Writers, and The Suffolk Poetry Society. She writes for the Felixstowe Magazine App and Authors Electric.

• Insta: @ginnb900
• Facebook: Virginia C Betts
• TikTok: virginiacbetts
• bluesy: @virginiabwrites.bsky.social
• Website: virginiabetts.com