Within the tyrant, a tripped over child.
The stuck are full of words.
The mirror reveals my first and last enemy.
Most robbers come bearing gifts.
First the shrinking waves, then the crashing tide.
As I walk away, I begin to take shape.
In chaos, I uncover the sword of my mouth.
Amanda Anastasi is a Melbourne poet whose work has been published as locally as the Artist’s Lane walls in Windsor to The Massachusetts Review in the US. Her poetry collections are Taking Apart the Bird Trap Recent Work Press, 2024 and The Inheritors (Black Pepper, 2021). Amanda’s work has been published in Best Australian Science Writing 2021 and 2022, Australian Poetry Journal, Griffith Review, Cordite Poetry Review, The Massachsetts Review, FourW, Short and Twisted and Right Now. She was recently Poet in Residence at the Monash Climate Change Communications Research Hub, where wrote poetry for three years to raise awareness about ecological issues and the climate crisis.