Published in Overland Issue 224 Spring 2016 · Uncategorized Gods of my youth Caitlin Maling At night we leave the colony to go to the ballet: Balanchine, mixed repertoire, Tchaikovsky. It’s American Girl Night and the girls in pigtails and gingham carry dolls in pigtails and gingham, blondes with blondes, brunettes with brunettes. On stage the corps dances the garlands, such unison, such unison, while with poise and grace back in Perth my sister slowly bleeds out the last of what would’ve been a baby and at intermission I text her. On stage the man lifts the woman above his head the girls and the dolls gasp and sigh and I hear my country roar inside me. It’s important to have control. Caitlin Maling Caitlin Maling is a WA poet with five books published. More by Caitlin Maling › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 22 May 2026 · Friday Poetry Judas goats Caitlin Maling Because goats can climb / and cave, clamber to find cover / in the bushes of what they can’t eat / which isn’t much. 20 May 202620 May 2026 · Reviews Are you experienced? Louis Armand Pam Brown’s poetry has been described as both conversational and deeply layered, its historical consciousness seemingly belied by a fragmentary, diaristic style. An easy comparison might be drawn with the work of her long-time friend Ken Bolton, which often achieves a sense of over-arching unity of vision expressed in monologue form. Bolton’s work can appear exhaustive — long prose-like stanzas — where Brown’s seems to flicker down the page like dawn through the mangroves on the drive to Cronulla.
