Published in Overland Issue 228 Spring 2017 · Uncategorized Trial Elena Gomez silk nest hull crisp plaits a deck cuffs in flanks The magistrate speaks with circle-shaped lips. The witch remains silent but licking her palm and smoothing the left parting on her hair. The first witness: we could smell the lavender and soon the pigs emerged from the barn and could not look around them. the animals were running very fast in many directions. The witch refuses her name of earthly possession. Magistrate: why do you continue to baste yourself? Murmurs from the crowd: the promise of rejuvenation. Witch: my speech is not ready for you. Read the rest of Overland 228 If you enjoyed this poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four outstanding issues for a year Elena Gomez Elena Gomez is the author of Admit the Joyous Passion of Revolt (Puncher & Wattmann) and Body of Work (Cordite). She lives on unceded Wurundjeri country. More by Elena Gomez › 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.
