I
A couple kiss over an arcade
game, their image
fixed from gelatinous print—
silver halide draws light
through shadow.

II
Hoi An.
Sky lanterns cast
ascend, drifting though
mountain cloud pass
they firelight your phone.

III
The bedside table’s forgotten
photo—its faded Kodak
and the tooth there, small
yellowed, covered in dust.

IV
A stretch of coastline—
mornings flood bone
the northerly billows
curtains and with it,
blisters of sea.

V
You dress. Pulling work
over your head—tying
yourself into sailor’s knots,
no longer able to pause or delay.

KA Rees

 

Listen to K A reading ‘Pause’ (0:49)

 

KA Rees writes poetry and short fiction. Her poems and short stories have been published by Australian Poetry, Cordite Poetry Review, Margaret River Press, Not Very Quiet, Overland, Review of Australian Fiction and Yalobusha Review, among others. Kate live in Sydney.

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