Poems
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Assembly
By Vidya Rajan, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips1.
The bell rings.
We march into the yard -
neat hair, neat knees, -
Brave Men Run in My Family
By Bella Li, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsI drank too much last night
THIS IMAGE IS AN ESTABLISHING SHOT. IN THE CENTRE IS A SUBURBAN POOL, ROYAL BLUE, SURROUNDED BY CUPIDS AND CLAW-FOOTED POTS. THESE WILL BE THE MAIN THEMES OF DESIRE AND FOLIAGE. WE TRACK THROUGH A SCREEN OF TREES: NED ENTERS LEFT, BAREFOOT, AND DIVES INTO CLEAR WATER; A HAND AND A GLASS OF GIN APPEARS (A SECONDARY THEME… -
Drift
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Nicole SmedeSome days you have to walk a long way out
to get beyond the shallows
Does anyone remember their first time? -
where memory stops
By Sandra Selig, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lipshow ruffled you seem
you’ve taken all the poetry out of it, haven’t you?
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never ask me to perform that part of the ceremony again
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Kate Lilleysleep by pressing a tiny button
to take away the pricking pains of the side
the green toothache
all blue spots or marks that happen therein -
clowder loop
By Raelee Lancaster, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsIn Japan, the Community cat – or Chiiki-neko – has no owner
but is collectively beloved.
Beloved sees you open heart / hearth / hand: Bastet’s stalwart -
Spiral
By Sam Wagan Watson, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips[The unravelling of a dream-weaved…on the event-horizon of rapid eye movement…]
In this ephemeral dreamscape, reality is a collapsing Escher staircase, void of control… I am delivered to streets that offer familiarity but are simply cheap knock-offs, these Australian dreams… a Hill’s Hoist that could snap in the rush of a weather-front…overcast sk… -
Your adventures may be tragic
By Carody Culver, Jackie Ryan, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lipsthis is the story of a journey
which begins at Mount Bartle Frere and ends at Pigeon Forge
a rollercoaster of attractions, fire and dirge
and believe me, you will definitely need something to get you dry -
I wake in bed with a beard
By Laura Jean McKay, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsIt is June. I am tired of being brave.
~ Anne Sexton
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The CEO must do a thing
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Robin M EamesI move:
that this act be now acted a second time.
to be laid before a written instrument.
commencement after commencement. -
Space talk
By Rozanna Lilley, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsTime passes rapidly.
Armed with a celestial body, anything can be used
to propel that armada
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Side Dish
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Eloise GrillsI’ve opened the no-name Australian Grated Cheese (made from Australian Milk) too early, like a cheesy patriot who sets up camp in the dark for another dawn service. Snacking is hard to avoid once a plastic seal is broken. Now I have to open the weekend wine on a Tuesday night, then I’ll preheat the oven. I’m making my mother’s special dish—a four… -
Making potatoes for dinner
By Eloise Grills, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsI can never follow instructions, even or especially ones I set myself, like that I was going to make potatoes for dinner and write about it. As soon as I made that decision I could feel myself bucking against it. And last night this misgiving was confirmed when I found myself making ravioli instead. Or cooking store-bought ravioli, suspending it i… -
Bag vs Sky
By Sawako Nakayasu, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsLooking up in the direction of the sky, I can reasonably expect to see sky. Sometimes, though, there is a large bag where the sky used to be. The bag, large enough to fill the entire sky, is exactly the size of my wide-open arms. It fits. Not completely in my arms, but it fits well enough so that even as it overflows, it still fits within my wide-… -
The day of its death was not a dark cold day
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Tishani DoshiWe misplaced the December birthstone
somewhere in November
or during this new season that has no name
striking blue from sky -
HEX-BENDING
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Jeet ThayilWe are the looking, the heat and the voyage.
~ Etel Adnan
Get it to smoking but never to burning -
How not to boil an egg
By Hadley, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lipsegg hash with kimchi juice (nb spoiler alert for season 8 of Law & Order: SVU)
1. get 2 big eggs from a carton with a photo of a dog on it, the dog’s name is Pope and the marketing would lead you to believe that Pope is the legal owner of the chicken farm, the chicken farm is in Goulburn, the dog is a wealthy land owner, the dog minds the chic… -
Afternoon at MM
By Nicole Smede, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsA glider hangs
Bobs above rock and shrub
South side
Breeze on blades -
all the while, trying to start the engine
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Helen Franzmann(for Jupiter)
between waking and sleep, two switches flicker
connecting stop-starts from Life and Now -
Inverted Weather
By Toby Fitch, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsA car in front of you jumps out of the road like an orca and lands on its back
Kisses a spider’s web in the dried-out garden bed beside the train track
