Where Fashion Goes to Die
Janice Clarke (Macquarie University)
Pillows of fog swell over
red-orange rocks like the
whitewash of a broken wave,
scattering light over
fossil-fuelled
polyesters and nylon:
cactus pinks,
sunburnt greens,
coastal blues,
metallics that shimmer
like mythical wings…
Salt crystals swathe
this living, moving mountain
of textile waste,
bonding toxic fibres
to an arid land.
Fast fashion has come to die
amongst the salars
and the succulents
of the Atacama desert—
low-cost clothing
woven by the young.
Its footprint is forever forged
in the pebbled dust—an
ichnite of consumerism
buried in the fog.
Janice Clarke is a Canberra-based writer and mother of two studying a Master of Creative Writing at Macquarie University. She draws much of her inspiration from the natural environment and is passionate about preserving the health of our ecosystems. She enjoys long walks in the bush, photography, listening to an eclectic array of music, and volunteering in community sport. She is proud to live and write on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples.
