shoved a claw in each pocket and dacked
me first time round
trades Tupperware for weed and helps
herself through gates
Street plays two-up in March
grieves Walgett first week of
school holidays
is camp dog, communal scooter
and scissors you won’t get back
Street names you godmother without
cutting spare keys
sleeps with a hand on any opening—
un-swiped feet off the mattress that came
with the refuge
Street shakes deal on making Mum sad
and all we hear is a lighter dropping from
her lap
all the things hurt
and imagine your shrieking into a tallboy’s
emptied drawer
—keep picturing this
way others howl into submergence or
set themselves on fire
speaking of: that was our toaster last night
Big points to it behind me and all the blame is
ours
how do I?
before flog it with well-wet towel
all incident and habit
I wasn’t even drinking
it smells in here
for days
everything real about us feels slo-mo
remember you thought there was a cloud
under your desk but
let’s not make a big thing of it
we’re all busting something
we’re fading at the same rate
back-then blinding each other
coffee-syrup river popping flashbulbs
of the sun
even other people’s mums’ll tell you
not to stare
they don’t tell you what the sun stares at
that night you played me
potion (felt like) years later you
fucked me in weeks
was basically Christmas—finally all the
money in the world for minutes in such
glorious drips
snoring now
found that joint and my sinus
spools clear
how’d you do it—turn the hourglass on
its ribs and still make it
count?
I’ve memorised everything
mango cheek lip, eel slip
of your back. fresh thresh
eyelash and bristled thicket
palmful of lifelines and
all skin since we scarred it
teeth strung together like a broken
fence. hands spade-wide and sever
ing
still fit both in your shared womb
the first and always home
see how we broke this shell
with a bigger? every resetting is a
long weekend
some could fit life-sentences inside
we’ll be unarmoured flesh for a
while but
My Darlings
have you ever seen a
sky like this?
The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government initiative that supports sustainable cultural development in regional, remote, and very remote Australia. Regional commission were made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia and Regional Arts NSW.