The Capitalism of Desire

desire is to lick, just a little, the back of the blue poison dart frog. desire is to look at lanky legs floating in lefkas. desire is to follow, through the far-flung corners of chefchaouen, bald heads squirrelling away crumbs of blue salvia. desire to drop the base. a circus in flames. after many moons, and a few drinks, a feather in the smoke resembles the face of a white man howling, chanting, raving, wanting to know how to sleep while his feathers are burning? white-faced empty melodies of shares and rock for stock exchange, coal seam gas, uranium, iron ore, a bed of cold hard coal. a cobalt fact is the prettiest element. how can they dance while the menagerie is collapsing? how can they sleep while the clowns are crying?

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.