First home bile


i am providing islands

for a local land baron

kept warm at night

by investment properties

dreaming of electric deeds

 

the walls are not built

to withstand harsh weather

so i wrap myself in rental applications

to prepare for the winter ahead

accessorising with vestigial asbestoses

 

herded into all these arbitrary divisions

i watch your blood ache for something less ephemeral

but oh, our bodies ground to dust by negative gears

salaries having mostly sentimental value at this point

i wonder what will become of the monoliths

 

left towering over gentrified paradise

these ultra-chic burial grounds now

overpopulated by millennial skeletons

crying silently into their

superannuations

 

Image: Homehome / Евгений макаров

 

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Allison Gallagher

Allison Gallagher is a writer from Sydney. Their debut chapbook is Parenthetical Bodies (Subbed In, 2017). Writing has appeared in Overland, Potluck, Scum Mag and Kill Your Darlings, among others. They also sing and play bass in the band Sports Bra.

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