Published in Overland Issue 228 Spring 2017 · Uncategorized Languages I Learned in Hell Audrey Molloy i. gown fitting invitation list deckled edge target weight sheath dress seating plan tussy mussy wishing well VIP ii. nuchal translucency recovery room blighted ovum foetal demise just as well genetic abnormality products of conception try again D&C iii. you look tired eating for two cankles varicose vein breech presentation epidural failure just a little snip instrumental birth OMG iv. crunch ’n’ sip working bee nit comb car pool mufti day plantar wart sight words special needs ADD v. children’s ward A&E white blood cell count parent room coffee machine lumbar puncture PICC line no news yet JRA vi. think tank take offline strategic staircase ASAP open the kimono burning platform drill down synergise FYI vii. matrimonial home date of cohabitation pre-marital assets erosion principle section 75(2)(b) without prejudice family law act $550 per hour plus GST viii. Klippan Lack self-assembly flat-pack Ribba Phillips head allen key Ikea thumb G&T ix. post baby body pelvic floor boot camp engage your core girls’ night out similar interests coffee Martini friends with benefits RSV Read the rest of Overland 228 If you enjoyed this poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four outstanding issues for a year Audrey Molloy Audrey Molloy was born in Dublin and grew up in Blackwater, County Wexford. She now lives in Sydney, where she works as a medical writer and editor. Her poetry has recently appeared in Australian Poetry Journal, New Shoots Anthology and Cordite. She was shortlisted for the 2016 Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets. More by Audrey Molloy › 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 1 6 November 2026 · Friday Fiction Headland Harry Goddard He must have still been sore. I could tell from the winces he made as he scooted down the trail. Some unspoken agreement of not hitting other people’s children — and the circumstances of me not being that type of kid — spared me from the same punishment. I was taken to my parents who agreed I would have to work off the damages, and I must have mowed the lawn once, or cleaned the family car. 4 November 2026 · Film MIFF, Minotaur and the politics of maternal reception Alicia Byrnes Maternal labour is, in the terms I’ve set out here, not labour at all. Noisy, unfocused, mobile, perhaps even sleepy — it is an affront to arthouse film viewing and therefore unserious.
