ISSUE TWO: July, 2019

THE WOMAN, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

by ANNIE BLAKE

για τον σαμάνο μου

/ when i pour down / he listens and tells me this makes us close / but the telephone booth can feel like a cold closet / fruit and milk will weep but keep temporarily / and no one will die / but
what  if the ice from the lake leaves him cold / when i cried in front of the doctor / she got up and opened the door / said happy easter and goodbye / then she shook my hand /
/ but there is never a second door / sometimes going down the porthole feels impossible /
for it’s filled with rainwater / crystal clear / and people and cows are drowned alive /
and even when i don’t tell anyone / they come up anyway / and i opened the cattle gate
so they could escape / far away from me /
/ so he asked for more money / so i gave him all i had / rang the bell / the night watch and increments of threes / and we walked down the pier like we were going to marry /
/ when the sea was frozen / and the moon eyed the snow / i thought we were in a fairyland globe / but the ships couldn’t dock / sometimes antique wardrobes look more impressive
than functional / when i stepped back it looked more like a mantle clock / it took off its face and i saw it was bloody / body / full of cogs and springs / because i was running out of time / i took off all my clothes /
/ a house in the shape of my nose / two airways to sense summer like chimney hearths / he said i look egyptian because i have a celestial nose / henna / the color of mahogany in my hair / my four children and my son / the alarm rang between two and four in the morning / so i walked in her water / for christmas and then the covenant / the woman was incomplete and she swam round / until she found the till in the wheel /
/ still and infant / painted white / netting and pulled her out / the dawn just broke / a red ribbon in the sky / and i watched her walk in the mist / grey / rain like hair / and a speering of the fall / watched / until the day washed and shifted // and the earth was hers /

ANNIE BLAKE is an Australian writer and divergent thinker. She is a wife and mother of five children. She started school as an EAL student and was raised and, continues to live in a multicultural and industrial location in the West of Melbourne. Her research aims to exfoliate branches of psychoanalysis and metaphysics. She is currently focusing on in medias res and art house writing. She enjoys semiotics and exploring the surreal and phantasmagorical nature of unconscious material. Her work is best understood when interpreting them like dreams. She is a member of the C G Jung Society of Melbourne. You can visit her on annieblakethegatherer.blogspot.com.au and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009445206990.