Published in Overland Issue 226 Autumn 2017 · Uncategorized Equal first place: OK Cupid Holly Isemonger A man who ‘writes’ messages me on OkCupid saying he won’t read other authors, wants ‘it to be original’. A receipt is in the corner of the chat window. I hope that he gets the message. Cupid messages the other man who gets a window of hope that authors me. He wants the message to be original, he writes on a receipt. I chat in the corner saying ‘it is ok … won’t be read’. Arrange today. Be at the grass. Plane some bodies to a low point. Here is what assembles overhead. Momentarily decide on the one to love. Do you still know that flies? Cupid says the original message won’t be OK. He authors the window and that receipt. I corner a man of hope and chat in other messages. He wants to write it to me. Who gets read? At what point do you decide to love someone? Bodies arrange on the grass. The day assembles. A low plane flies overhead. Know that to be here is to be momentarily still. Desire reversing out a driveway. My eyes water lines of asphodels. End the real paradise scene. Shot the last piece of our tribute. I walk to the car. Still here at a low point. Love momentarily assembles on bodies, arrange some head. Today you decide on what to do-over: the grass, ‘be the one’, the plane that flies. Our end lines paradise. I walk to the asphodels. Desire drives the real scene reversing a car out of shot. My eyes water, a way to tribute the last piece. The last piece of paradise walks out of shot. The eyes water. My tribute to real desire. Asphodels line our driveway. I end the scene: a car reversing. Read the rest of Overland 226 If you enjoyed this prizewinning poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four outstanding issues for a year Holly Isemonger Holly has been published in Cordite, Shabby Doll House and Voiceworks. She is the author of the chapbook Hip Shifts (If A Leaf Falls Press) and Deluxe Paperweight(Stale Objects dePress) . She can be found at hisemonger.tumblr.com and tweets @hisemonger. More by Holly Isemonger › 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 19 February 2025 · Disability The devaluing of disability support Áine Kelly-Costello and Jonathan Craig Over the past couple of decades, disabled people in much of the Western world have often sought, or agreed to, more individualised funding schemes in order to gain greater “choice and control” over the support we receive. But the autonomy, dignity and flexibility we were promised seems constantly under threat or out of reach, largely because of the perception that allowing us such “luxuries” is too expensive. 17 February 202517 February 2025 · the arts Seeking a quieter Australia: on the silencing of Khaled Sabsabi Micaela Sahhar For five days, the Australian representative to the 2026 Venice Biennale was to be the first ever Arab-Australian artist selected for this honour.
