crickets croak in darkness
my cold feet sink into carpet
laptop whirring in my lap
an overheating aluminium purring cat
cars screech past my home
i stare at a digital white page
scratching at keys
as if they have answers
to lift me from the anxiety
of Sunday night
satisfaction of a burden
pulls to the ceiling
and back to my hips
repeat repeat repeat
fingers tapping knees
touching rubber rectangles
like silent drums
voices lifting heaviness into light
pulling arms above our heads
in closing ceremony
watching the clock
on my laptop
as if it’s an untrained puppy
behaving under my gaze
my mind turns
to Pilates
to Netflix
minutes turn the lock
on the gate between
my labour and my freedom
to sunshine walks
to the hours spent
without nursing a laptop
bracing for a Microsoft Teams call
sifting through emails
as if they are gold in the river
that’s not mine to keep
i refuse to serve my life to you
on a platter of pixels
for your consumption
dripping down your chin
as if in my own reality show
that nobody asked for
on a treadmill of likes and views
clips of life i give away
to hungry ghosts
in my phone
monetising meaning
for a silent audience
of lost lovers and trolls
acquaintances and lost connections
pressing little circles
for advertisements of life
they say it’s free
but I am the price
a girl i always match with
we message and forget again
like an annual abandoned game of table tennis
a girl who likes moustaches and real men
a bear not a butch
looking for a koala in a bird aviary
a girl who once fed me french fries like a baby bird
it was in a friend of a friend of a friend’s lounge room
we still laugh about it
three men
five men included with a woman
my ex
your ex
everyone else is at the end of a highway
tofu, pineapple and
maple syrup
save the page
buy what you need
don’t read the method
tofu, pineapple and
maple syrup
is this a recipe
made for love
or monetisation
tofu, pineapple and
maple syrup
mismatched flavours
let Chef GPT
cheat my tongue
water pours over a dirty rug
two kitten shaped clouds jump in darkness
a woman waves a makeup palette
a man shoves a microphone at a face
fingerprints on my screen
scratching the folds in my brain
water pours over a dirty rug, again
i watch
i pretend i am cleansed
flicking irises over black markings
worlds made from symbols
pushing further into stories
imprinted by a stranger’s mind
figures built from alphabets
breathing through letters
as i press the right side of the screen
it started with a hiss
she arched her body
frozen in place
traded fear for offerings
each day she became
one percent softer
until her eyes curled
into a kiss
you are a seed
captured in dirt
savour the rain
that pulls you
toward the sky
you survived
let water drip
across your leaves
to lift those
in the dirt
little poems 