I’ve been living in the atrium of somebody’s heart // there are seats here // like at the movies // my face glows from the screenlight like a thousand phones to the sky // at sunset // there are cobwebs here // rust // mothdust // insects that tick time forward in the wet dark // butterflies, butterflies // like a middle school crush // I’ve been here for a long time // the lost months smell like earth and // I’ve been hiding from the landlord // I’ve even started a garden // new trees like candlelight along the spine // leaves that will open green and starry like // dragonwings // and blossoms so stubbornly coloured that they burn red even in // the bodied dark // sometimes the room is wounded // with light // knives of white like // stars // pinning our wrists to the sky // and the voices come to me low and boomy like // an ear to somebody’s chest or // cello music // or mildewed eyes // at a nightclub // and there are chalices of liquor // ruby-coloured // like pain // and the glass from the ceiling weeps // like glitter // oh // my chapel // oh // my love dove // tell me that I am an orchid held between two hands // like a prayer // tell me that the cigarettes light us up from the inside // like lanterns // baby // tell me that the champagne will be clear and silverbeaded // tell me that the stories will be tensionless // tell me that the atlassed skies will fall into the sea in deafening applause // tell me that the libraries will be empty pillars of joy // tell me that those kids will always be running aflight up twenty flights of stairs and // their swollen lungs will always be wings too large in their warm bodies and // they will always be there on the roof with their fat black hearts // killing time // high enough for gravity to kill // baby // I’ve been here for too long // the lost moths smell like earth and // their bodies are furred // on the doorstep // of my old flat // baby // I’ve always been here // for too long // I’ve been hiding from the landlord // I’ve even started a garden // baby // let’s be ordinary people // together // baby // tell me to stay // stay // stay
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with 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