preservation

my favourite alone time is when people are with me in other rooms 
I came to drink before I knew you 
dance the edges you said you’ll like this
walking home I catch sounds from other houses 
living by being on my way to something
it was harder for me to let go
it is
because I’ve met you in your room so
I walk past to get to my own every day
an upturned hair bow in the rain
get dry 
I’m lonely walking home
two snails stopped at 90 degree angles
and my neighbour is parking her car 
sounds like a ghost swingset in the rain
you say snails avoid egg shells
so I nest them all over my garden 
a solution from the edge of a world
in the word of our relating 
what solution can I use

About the author

Megan Payne is a dancer, choreographer, and writer, based in Narrm. In 2020, in response to lockdowns, they co-created and hosted the radio show Land Swimming as a way to feel closer to swimming and bodies of water. Megan loves writing poetry and is currently working on a fiction manuscript about a non-binary character’s relationship with their ageing Grandmother, who also happens to be a werewolf. They study Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT.

Photo by Serghei Savchiuc on Unsplash.