Working the sexual assault & domestic violence lines
they ring & in the night space we draw circles
decorate them with an arrow to pierce a heartwe open the space & we wait
whether it’s 20 minutes or 8 seconds
& it’s reliable – they come
anything from very tentative, to a forthright tellingheavier calls overnight – we’re witness to a new kind of sorry in the early hours
we meander fingertips over paper – these old-fashioned lines to trace
begin to wind ourselves away from where each caller has been
that night & deep into an array of pastswe collect ourselves & recollect
sounding outwards for the plurality of those who need
as they sound inwards for us
& voices together, feel our ways into & out of
the collective woundsilently we breathe out our own fears
soften our voices to soothe the outpaced minds who ring
the anxious unsettled, living in the checkmate of outsider positionswho are we? – whoever we are we stay
our presence dives, lifts to later coalesce
a voice tells us to isolate then reach towards
the fabled camaraderie of other counsellorsthe hope hit & miss
as we attempt to navigate the psycho-social labyrinth
fingers try to find a path between
the tangled lattices of cares, fixations, myths & hurtsthose of us doing the listening touch fingertips once more
tap tired words to one another across states laws & federal mandates
these are cobwebs that reach & stickworking the lines
in the night space, lonely, intimate
to be just there, to be just with – after abuse
all kinds – its hours & its torn loveafterwards I reach only for the company of trees
-
- 120: DIALOGUEwith E Chong 119: FITwith E Collyer 118: PRECARIOUSwith A Jackson 117: NO THEME 14with A Creece 116: REMEMBERwith M Sahhar and A Te Whiu 115: SPACEwith A Sometimes 114: NO THEME 13with J Toledo & C Tse 113: INVISIBLE WALLSwith A Walker & D Disney 112: TREATwith T Dearborn 111: BABYwith S Deo & L Ferney 110: POP!with Z Frost & B Jessen 109: NO THEME 12with C Maling & N Rhook 108: DEDICATIONwith L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik 107: LIMINALwith B Li 106: OPENwith C Lowe & J Langdon 105: NO THEME 11with E Grills & E Stewart 104: KINwith E Shiosaki 103: AMBLEwith E Gomez and S Gory 102: GAMEwith R Green and J Maxwell 101: NO THEME 10with J Kinsella and J Leanne 100: BROWNFACE with W S Dunn 99: SINGAPOREwith J Ip and A Pang 97 & 98: PROPAGANDAwith M Breeze and S Groth 96: NO THEME IXwith M Gill and J Thayil 95: EARTHwith M Takolander 94: BAYTwith Z Hashem Beck 93: PEACHwith L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong 92: NO THEME VIIIwith C Gaskin 91: MONSTERwith N Curnow 90: AFRICAN DIASPORAwith S Umar 89: DOMESTICwith N Harkin 88: TRANSQUEERwith S Barnes and Q Eades 87: DIFFICULTwith O Schwartz & H Isemonger 86: NO THEME VIIwith L Gorton 85: PHILIPPINESwith Mookie L and S Lua 84: SUBURBIAwith L Brown and N O'Reilly 83: MATHEMATICSwith F Hile 82: LANDwith J Stuart and J Gibian 81: NEW CARIBBEANwith V Lucien 80: NO THEME VIwith J Beveridge 57.1: EKPHRASTICwith C Atherton and P Hetherington 57: CONFESSIONwith K Glastonbury 56: EXPLODE with D Disney 55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUSwith M Chakraborty and K MacCarter 55: FUTURE MACHINES with Bella Li 54: NO THEME V with F Wright and O Sakr 53.0: THE END with P Brown 52.0: TOIL with C Jenkins 51.1: UMAMI with L Davies and Lifted Brow 51.0: TRANSTASMAN with B Cassidy 50.0: NO THEME IV with J Tranter 49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH with M Hall and S Seita 49.0: OBSOLETE with T Ryan 48.1: CANADA with K MacCarter and S Rhodes 48.0: CONSTRAINT with C Wakeling 47.0: COLLABORATION with L Armand and H Lambert 46.1: MELBOURNE with M Farrell 46.0: NO THEME III with F Plunkett 45.0: SILENCE with J Owen 44.0: GONDWANALAND with D Motion 43.1: PUMPKIN with K MacCarter 43.0: MASQUE with A Vickery 42.0: NO THEME II with G Ryan 41.1: RATBAGGERY with D Hose 41.0: TRANSPACIFIC with J Rowe and M Nardone 40.1: INDONESIA with K MacCarter 40.0: INTERLOCUTOR with L Hart 39.1: GIBBERBIRD with S Gory 39.0: JACKPOT! with S Wagan Watson 38.0: SYDNEY with A Lorange 37.1: NEBRASKA with S Whalen 37.0: NO THEME! with A Wearne 36.0: ELECTRONICA with J Jones
