dry retching –
there are things that remind me – of you (still?)/ scattered across the sky / in the way the grey banks / like it could snow?
(it’s 17 degrees)
and in how my / bread rips / because the butter is too hard / and I got impatient with / the toaster.
‘families are weird’
you tell me blowing / out your dart / directly into my mouth
(my fault for having it open)
and I KNOW / there are thousands of worm-hole openings / conversations I could start / among the clutter / of what we pick apart to hold / as our friendship
(I’m leaving tomorrow)
free-held early adult / of suburban walking home with too many groceries so the plastic bags we shouldn’t have bought dig into our palms and leave fighting marks until they’re gone / is momentarily over.
It will begin again and stop Adani.
For us and more likely for others.
and I guess too, we will find our own lanes/ in swimming pools in the open ocean / wonder at what made us whole / misplace that we even had grandmothers.
keep drowning but forget / call it home
(this is what they now label stoic optimism)
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.