Sophie Finlay
drought glides with breaths of dust
burst of plume
roping
tip
fires are given names, converge in rivers —
Ruined Castle joins with Green Wattle Creek
other fires spin into thin tornadoes, emitting fuel like pulsars
forests break in cellulose, cinders rain
and lap the shores
the waves are black, we are breathing this in
radiant wounds
screech
long-nosed
long-footed
spot-tail
large-eared
glossy black
log runner
pouched
spiny
ground and bristle
posed ash-stiff in alizarin
supplement feed the galaxias, the alpine fauna, the swamp skinks
seed-bank mint bush and bottle brushes
tolerance unknown
Sophie Finlay is a visual artist and poet from Melbourne. Her poetry is published in multiple journals including Meanjin, Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Plumwood Mountain journal and Shaping the Fractured Self, UWAP. She has been a finalist in several art prizes including the prestigious John Leslie Art Prize.