Selected poems
Prelude
Slivers of dream before sleep
the whistle after the hum
a palette unmuddied
buds blushed & tight-lipped
precipitation before thunder
anticipation in the dusty wings
premonition & catalyst
excavation site unseen
the poem poised to be written
a treble clef before dancing notes
the dapple around the whisper
a story unbirthed & untold
unsung & not yet heralded
by a soft-throated caress
adrift waiting for solidity
A whirring prelude at best.
Williamstown Pier
We’re walking in a painting
pointillist blue and silver
gold and light
white-masted boats
diagonally splayed
fanning the water
If only: Chagall lovers
breeze giddy
ripples below our feet
you’re pulling me up:
kites kissing the sun
a slow rising melody.
Bird-boned
Tonight the sky was polished marble slab
when I drove home from you
no longer with bright red lipstick
as quietly radiant as the necklace of light
on the West Gate Bridge above
tonight I will sleep with the film of sweat
hair matted and skin tender
scrawled over with your invisible signature
warm from the exchanges of breath
& the motion of bodies through space
tonight the world feels a little less cruel
surely an agent of benediction not chaos
led me to you wild-eyed & bird-boned
that very first time a tremulous hope
caught in the throat awaiting expression.
Thuy On is a freelance literary and arts journalist and critic. Her work has been published in various places including The Australian, The Age, The SMH, Books+Publishing, The Guardian, The Sydney Review of Books and ArtsHub. For the last seven years she's been books editor of The Big Issue. Her first book, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, was published by UWAP in March, 2020. She's working on her second collection, Decadence. Author photo by Leah Jing.