movement i
teen bodies on warm bitumen
legs in shorts in the sun drenched quad
she was my wild one, my brightly burning cloudtogether driving fast through pine plantations
creeping into the burnt out observatory
gazing through the glassless dome at the stars
a universe that can’t look any closer
burning through our eyestesting ourselves
against a shifting measure of
something I can’t even guess atthe summer we turned seventeen
heat bent our bike spokes
so we stripped down to swim in the lake weed
that bent around each limbthe summer we turned seventeen
we cut down feral pines
ran a Christmas tree racket out of the church car park
until they caught us out
chased us away running
lake weed streaming from our skinNatalie Wilson and I
growing up rollies
on the edge of a stormwater drain
underage gigs
pop-punk clothing
black t-shirts, ripped jeansand late one night
a needle, an ink pot
slight resistance and a stick-poke tattoo
three lines hinting the shape of a triangleshe never said what it meant
just that it reminded her of things
movement ii
news headline
Man found dead had multiple stab woundswhen I saw his photo
my pulse moved to my ears
I knew him without reading his name
they chose a shot from high schoollight skin and freckles
thin red hairsI remember him leaning
over the desk with blunt scissors
scraping back curls of wood
his fists in the mosh pit
black t-shirts, ripped jeans
he was everybody’s last man standingit’s been a decade
I can’t remember if we said ‘hi’ in all that timeit was evening before I heard
how many times he was stabbed
there’s something visceral about that number, seventeen
movement iii
after the first reports there’s silence
no answers instead
months of waiting, wonderingthen Natalie Wilson is arrested
the shock is hard and fast in my chest
my wild one, my brightly burning cloud
the burnt kitchen knife under her house
at first it’s no and then it’s yesmy head goes around and around with it
she’s accused
I think she did it
I have no evidence
she hasn’t been convictedshe’s accused
they found the knife
it couldn’t be her
they’re holding her
she’s going to trialmy memories of her body are
all teenage freshness
all strong tanned legs
lipsmackers
swimming carnivals
impulse deodorant
there’s something visceral about that number, seventeenI wake into 2am confusion
night images visit meher body, warm muscles
my memories curled up against her
sleepovers and movie marathons
whispered conversationsher body empathetic to mine
gasping pleasure
lips to cheekbone slip
hands to back bone pressed
hard like winter airher body with that knife in her hand
four arms, limbs pushed together
the smacking of meat
seventeen times through the chestand I’m fucking appalled
epilogue: modern ritual
after she’s convicted I don’t visit her
time will not set her freeI run scenarios through my head
late at night like psalmson Tuesdays I want her punished
embalmed and un-forgivenby Wednesday all I know is her humanity
I perform sacrament in my mind at these timesI take her body
lay it down upon the kitchen tablewash her arms with warm water
a steaming wet towelwash her legs, her feet
rub between her toesbrush out her hair
place a silk scarf over her eye socketsI whisper to her that I trust her
I whisper that I will never forgive herI lay her humanity down
stark against the kitchen tiles
- 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