Poetry
In addition to her two pamphlets, Take The River Against the Tide (2026) and Silence & Selvedge (2024), both published by Earthy Little Acorns Press, Ted Gooda’s poetry has appeared in a number of magazines, journals and online publications including Vole Books, The Cannon’s Mouth, Sentinel, Wildfire Words, Ingénue Magazine, Cerasus and English in Education.
The day I chose the wrong ice cream
A woman I don’t know
offers me a lolly one too-hot day.
I look to my father. A nod
of permission. I’m too small
to see into the freezer
but pictures show Fabs,
Orange Maids, Mr Men,
Milkpops with cowskin wrappers,
strawberry and vanilla.
And Cornettos.
I’ve never had one before.
I point, shyly, not knowing
how much things cost.
He shoots me a look.
How can eyes hurt like fists?
The penny drops
as the old woman fumbles
in her clip purse for more coins,
insisting that I must have it.
I protest, too late.
That was the day
I discovered that ice cream
tastes sour as cigarettes.
That a wafer cone
is choking dust.
That you never tell
what you really want.
That desire is a secret,
shameful thing.
You put the fist in your mouth
and swallow that instead.
‘The day I chose the wrong ice cream’ won the 2026 Wildfire Words Flash 150 Audio Prize judged by Dr Katherine Parsons and Christine Griffin. Listen at https://wildfire-words.com/ff150-2026/#Ted-Gooda