Overland literary journal

OVERLAND 198
autumn 2010
ISBN 978-0-9805346-5-8
published March 2010

Differential Threshold

The ‘differential threshold’ is the smallest change
in sensory stimulation that a person can detect.

When you left the room it was barely sensory:
a bee’s wing dropped from fingernail height.
You were drunk, walked cautiously.
To keep the room in place
your fingers brushed the backs of chairs.

When I followed you it was almost invisible:
a candle sunk miles into dusk.
The landscape almost unchanged.
Wine seethed in my throat
I did not touch the furniture.

The party swallowed on; distracted.
We went unheeded, like sugar stirred
through too much water.
You were quiet,
dissolved among the bedded coats.

When I found and kissed you we were
almost unnoticeable, skirting the threshold.

Anna Ryan-Punch is a Melbourne reviewer and poet. Her published poetry includes work in the Age, Westerly, Wet Ink and Famous Reporter.
© Anna Ryan-Punch
Overland 198-autumn 2010, p. 99

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