April 27th, 2022Local Lines
Earth movers
Paper scissors, blue handle, blunt cutting blades that work best on tissue, old newspaper. Sister and I play the humming game. Try and out-do each other, humming as hard as we can with mouths shut. Until we run out of air, scare the dog. Shushed by television news, witnesses re-create traffic accidents, school-run bank robberies. Ruby moon lets itself in through flyscreen. Our lungs fill with pink-red and technicolour.
The glue stick unlidded, dries, and turns grey. Coloured cardboard, pens like thick matchsticks, left in another room. Ruby moon cooled yellow amidst fast decades. An eyelash may fall onto the plateau of your cheek, stuck there by moisture in the wind. Tomorrow earth diggers return to carve up the neighbours’ block, crane arm cocked to the sunrise. Time moves bluntly. Soil razored by sharp instruments, capable of cutting heavier things than paper.
- Stephanie Powell
Stephanie Powell lives in Melbourne but enjoys spending time and writing in Hepburn Springs. She is the recipient of the Melbourne Poets Union Poetry Prize, 2022. More poetry can be found on her website: atticpoet.com
Local Lines comes mainly from a group of local poets but other submissions are always welcome. To have a poem considered for publication contact Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com
