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by Gareth Mattey (b. 1993)

Melancholy (and Buttercream)
Language: English 
Her voice
To begin the recipe

His voice
She cracks a single egg, slowly

Her voice
Item one: two hands
With long nails -
Worn and red and tom and bled

His voice
She cracks another egg. quickly
She misses the bowl

Her voice
Item two: two lips
Sweet enough

His voice
She adds far too much flour and sugar
She doesn't care
She whisks, furiously

Her voice
Item three: two grey eyes
With borowed lids

His voice
She drops in a packet of chocolate flavouring

Her voice
Item four: my hair

 His voice
She expects me to pick it up

Her voice
One item but thousands really
I should count them individually

 His voice
She doesn't know i won't

Her voice
But I won't

 His voice
She acquires a baking tray

Her voice
Item five: two armpits
With a forest of hair

 His voice
She pours the thick mixture unevenly
She doesn't care

Her voice
Item six: a heart 
Unlucky for some

 His voice
She doesn't intend to eat it 

Her voice
Item seven: a voice

 His voice
She intends for me to eat it

Her voice
Hello? Can you hear me?

 His voice
She doesn't know I won't

Her voice
Raw until the last ...

 His voice
She puts everything into the oven

Her voice
Item eight: two legs
Pacing its walls
Over and over and over and over...

 His voice
She sets a timer

Her voice
They understand me.

 His voice
She waits
She waits for me

Her voice
Item nine: two arms
That wish they hadn't broken so many eggs in my time.
Broken eggs make a burnt cake.

 His voice
She hears the timer
She withdraws the burnt cake

Her voice
Item ten: an alien object
Between my legs

 His voice
She decorates it in chocolate buttercream frosting

Her voice
Item eleven: an empty stomach
With a solution 
For the future

 His voice
She finishes the cake

Her voice
And
Item twelve: my mind
Weathering a storm

 His voice
She spies my hunger

Her voice
Item after item after item after item until:

 His voice
She eats me in one bite

Her voice
I wait 
I eat
I eat the cake.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gareth Mattey (b. 1993), "Melancholy (and Buttercream)" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Kerensa Briggs (b. 1991), "Melancholy (and Buttercream)" [ mezzo-soprano, baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-18
Line count: 102
Word count: 364

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