A Bathtub Full of Heartbeats

a rusted head leaks split ends

into a bathtub full of heartbeats.

mudlarks scavenge at the

remnants of last night's dinner

splattered on the floor. she is

vanishing, not into all that she

has done, but into all that she

has left to do. stomping her

stalactite legs and crying, 'bring

me the scissors.' the room drips

away. a salmon dawn reaches

through a contoured eucalypt,

sunlight escapes into the mist,

two birds perch upon a fallen

sign: "LIQUIDATION: buy

2 shadows & receive the 3rd

free." in this paddock everything

is for sale. blood and flesh and body

language and fallen hair and charcoal

outlines of shadows dancing.

Stevi-Lee Alver is an Australian writer and tattoo artist. She lives in the middle of Brazil with her wife. She loves bush walks and waterfalls but misses the ocean.

This poem is part of the drains of her mind collection.