water weight (Emily Crocker)

the Baptist plunged her
delicate but thorough
into the waves rinsing
wine dregs from her glass stem core
contaminating the ocean with thoughts
it’ll never be big enough for us
the swash crept away
backing into the green
subjugated at the horror
should it rise up
none of us will be left standing

we never let on that jars
are perfectly adequate containers
that brine will help slow the onslaught
as all the questions come into fruit
at once – our names declared
dunked head first into sloshed beer mugs
learned it’s never enough to ask
the world to keep you safe
you need to pick up on Luck’s subtle hints
when he’s trying to lead you.

Assure yourself that you did actually yes
see a wink – it’s not just that shit
sticks to the eyelashes with a dedication
none of you ever exhibited
but have all seen in your peers
lately we flip out shame
like a club card but refused
embarrassment at the way the sky cooed
and giggled and pinched our cheeks
at the games we played
on the beach that day
trying to balloon ourselves
up in salty stock broth
water weight. 


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Emily Crocker is a poet and law student derived from Western Sydney who gets most writing done on public transport. Her work has been published by Australian journals including Voiceworks, Seizure, and The Southerly. Emily is active in the Wollongong spoken word scene and is an out Canberra-enthusiast. Her poem ‘Swarm’ was shortlisted in the 2015 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize.