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Currajah

 
BELINDA BROUGHTON

 

                  birth

 

the birth canal
is hard and narrow
but i am a soft egg
i am expelled
wet and flailing
 
air rasps my skin
and my throat
and inside me
i wail it out
but it comes
rushing back
 
it is my own voice
that shocks me most
 
i sleep
as still
as water
and wake
alone
 
the dull air
is full of sound
that is not
her
heartbeat
 

 

Belinda Broughton is a visual artist and poet living in the Adelaide Hills. She exhibits herself here and there and publishes her poems by scrawling them on the back of her hand.