Editorial Note by Max Wallis

Intrusion, JP Seabright’s final poem, is a poem of hypervigilance. Every time the speaker closes their eyes in transit, an imagined attack floods in: the blade, the blood, the bystanders recoiling. The syntax is clipped, cinematic, and refuses to soften at all. The poem loops between shock and self-blame… “If only I hadn’t closed my eyes. / Maybe. / Stopped it somehow” until survival becomes conditional on never resting, never letting go. This is what trauma does. I hugely admire this poem. What cuts deepest is the counterfactual tally: more drinking, more sex, the book unwritten. Here, trauma speaks not only in the scene replayed, but in the ledger of a life measured against its imagined loss.

About the Author:

JP Seabright (she/they) is a queer disabled writer living in London. They have six solo pamphlets published and four collaborations, encompassing poetry, prose and experimental work. More info at https://jpseabright.com via Twitter/X @errormessage and @jpseabright everywhere else.

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