STIRRING
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
ALISON EASTLEY
At first, I thought it was my pulse
not this crowd of voices.
I can’t concentrate on the map from your place
to mine.
At the roundabout, take the second
exit onto National Highway 1. At the next
roundabout,
take the third exit. I see white lines
on a green surface
like freshly mown grass.
It reminds me of the smell of your sweat
scenting the sheets but all I have
is the landscape
of distance, the landscape of absence,
and it’s here, in the margins, and here,
in the liminal spaces, and here,
I study the bureau of meteorology.
Already the weather has changed from benign
to wild winds, rain lashed storms
and candles placed throughout the house.
Incessant rain becomes a prophesy
that floods your voice when you call.
My thirst is as dark as a secret.
It soaks me to the skin.
Alison Eastley lives with her cat in a small seaside village in Tasmania. A tutor by day, a writer by night, Alison's work will be appearing soon in Neologism.
