Brink


I am a woman of the last century
a connoisseur of cupboards and compartments
answers reversed, a tangle for trembling ears
secrets of imitation exposed

a connoisseur of cupboards and compartments
letters of courtship and expired unguents
secrets of imitation exposed
glottal chink, botched frontispiece

letters of courtship and expired unguents
rima vestibuli, unversed speech
glottal chink, botched frontispiece
grosgrain ribbon stretched taut

rima vestibuli, unversed speech
a dewy bower open and shut
grosgrain ribbon stretched taut
the part when writing intercedes

a dewy bower open and shut
consent as extralegal
the part when writing intercedes
confessio amantis unto Venus and Cupid

consent as extralegal
answers reversed, a tangle for trembling ears
confessio amantis unto Venus and Cupid
I am a woman of the last century

Kate Lilley

Kate Lilley is a queer poet-scholar. Her three books of poetry are Versary, Ladylike and, most recently, Tilt, winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award. Recent poems have appeared in Griffith Review, Australian Poetry Journal, Rabbit and Plumwood Mountain. She is the editor of Margaret Cavendish: The Blazing World and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) and Dorothy Hewett: Selected Poems (UWAP).

More by Kate Lilley ›

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