Check my legs

Pantyhose
Tight top
Slim skirt
Mascara
Hairspray
Heels

I can’t lie back on grass to watch the clouds
I can’t sprint through the rain
I can’t sit cross-legged on the railway platform when my hips hurt
I can’t relax on the train: the seats face others
and every second I check my legs
are shut

First published in Tamba 59, December 2016

Events

Creative Writing, Far North REAP, Kaitaia, 16 March 2022

Creative writing at Far North REAP in Kaitaia, 16 March. Come and write with me! Express yourself freely in a safe, supportive group.

Poetry Zoom! Poets from across the UK and Australia share their courageous connections with land and people through poetry. Sunday 10 October 2021 on Zoom 10:30am UK Time (UTC+1; Perth 5.30pm; Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart 8.30pm; New Zealand 10:30pm) Book on EventBrite Find out more on Facebook The featured reader, Sarah Holland-Batt, is one of Australia’s most respected contemporary poets. Supporting readers: Jackson, Coral Carter, Sundra Lawrence, Dorothea Smartt, J V Birch, Yvonne Patterson, Patricia Foster McKenley, Anjan Saha, Helena Steel, Cath Drake, Rita Tognini, Tineke Van Der Eecken, Mala Anthony-Ranu, Kathy Armstrong. Book on EventBrite Find out more on Facebook

Poets Corner (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia) have kindly invited me to share some poems in October alongside their poet laureate Sean M Whelan. Plus open mike. Free online event. Sunday 25 October 2020. Zoom in from 4-6pm UTC+08 (Perth time) or 7-9pm Melbourne time. I’m on from 4:30 to 4:45 in Perth, or 7:30 to 7:45 in Melbourne. To get the Zoom link, email Jai at picklepoetry at outlook dot com More info on Facebook here

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