Rozanna Lilley is a widely published researcher and author writing across multiple forms. Her work is included in Best Australian Essays (2013 and 2014) and Best (of) Australian Poems (2015 and 2023). Her short stories are published in anthologies and literary journals. Her memoir Do Oysters Get Bored? (UWA Publishing, 2018) was shortlisted for the National Biography Award. A poetry chapbook, The Lady in the Bottle (London: Black Spring Press), was released in 2023.
By-the-wind sailor
A blustery wimple frames impassive features
tan stockings puddled by saltwater
periwinkles clinging to her rough tunic
the deep space of sea-stars scattered in prayer
At inlet’s edge
a girl digs a hole in damp sand
rearranges svelte limbs
a trio of Barbie beach dolls
reclining by the edge of an infinity pool
sipping signature cocktails
Her mother packs the sunlit afternoon
into an overflowing tote
grasps her little sister’s searching hand
and calls her home
Beyond the inlet
the coffle of low dunes
then the open sea
thousands of by-the-wind sailors
their glittering blue bodies
adrift on riotous waves
Winter solstice
At the glass house on the headland
hours contract
Record the fact another year
such skittering distances
To the south the lub-dub
of surf crashing
Through the long night
mice rustling under the sink
Sampling a showbag
of prescription meds
Inhalers and inhibitors
anti-this-and-that
Lacelike veins entangled
skirting the isthmus
To the north a placid bay
a pair of white-bellied sea eagles
Circling the island
inside-out pockets
Of drip-tipped rainforest
a spit of shell grit
Searching safe anchorage
as dawn gathers
The ashen scent
of rejection nestled
Within frosted curves
a daybreak splash of
Flickering vermillion
lights up these empty rooms
