A prose poem of “found fragments”, compiled by Julia Prendergast in homage to Swinburne student readings: ‘Tell me’ / Sudden Writing Spoken Word Event, 13 April 2022.
I don’t understand you and I don’t wish to
She wanted to paint him… her brush swelled with paint
…wet paint in sunlight
Yet here I am… both the abductor and the abductee
I was finally made of stardust
Into the void… my reflection is nothing
Squirm and struggle
The glimmering thin sense of the 21st century
Then there were the books – there were the books
Give me a second to think… when I’m thinking I walk… when I’m stressed, I run…
I’ve lied…
If I date you… how did you get that scar on your elbow?
Tell me all of it. Tell me your 3am feelings.
Your sister – the nice troubled one…
I don’t ever want to leave this room
It was cold and we were chest to chest. Rocks and twigs.
I sobbed as bits of me were dragged under water
An invitation to intertwine hands – for so long I had to wait for you to return
Watch me walk – I’m not moving anymore
The leaves make a different sound when they’re dry… That crackling skittering sound
I’m not in a cave, though sometimes I wish that I was… That’s what happens in what you think is your world… I live down, down below
The boys tumbled out of the sea
She looks back at the road and thinks very briefly of her own blood
More important than any of those, it’s her favourite sound… she taught me to find beauty in the mundane
The most important thing for us was honesty and communication
You baffle me.
Image Julie Kamm via Unsplash
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