Cartographies of Intentions
Alex Nelson (Deakin University, Australia)
I
Cement poured from above
mixed with blood
grazes tender wishes
into sludge
But what is worse
what’s left is puny
in stark shadows of Common Sense.
But what is worse?
II
Plagued with a plan
and no companion
fortified in bruises
arching through each disappointed turn
Do not reject the call
Do not wimp away
Metal yourself in courteous lines
alone
run flee abort
cultivate
III
As a child I believed
I could clone
myself, for a dozen different selves
practical each, to the quick
twelve selves each equipped with virtues
to meet my brave intentions.
In parallel I dreamed I could
do all
be more
In parallel I dreamed I could
be and be
and be
IV
Late sunlight slots
angry yellow oblong through trees
under a blotchy grey too threadbare for storms.
I accelerate away
as the overripe glow taps my shoulder
clenched wheel
I lurch over a ridge
It punches light after me
smashes mirror mirror face
bleating my eyeballs.
I am weeping, now
and it has won.
Alex Nelson lives with her family in Beechworth, Victoria. She is a mother and a teacher, and is currently studying her Masters of Writing and Literature at Deakin University.
