Dysphoria


liberate love

into dust

shifting, self-gearing

love them all

credit me

do what makes you happy she says

but doesn’t mean it in the way my mum says

the desire to take clothes off

to take them off but also take

off another layer underneath

peel away those expectations

get closer to my truth

I love my mind but I haven’t come to terms with this

I catch you in an embrace with another part of me

looking backwards

into dust

 

 

Image: Oranges / James Lee

 

 

 

 

Ellen van Neerven

Ellen van Neerven is an award-winning writer, editor and educator of Mununjali Yugambeh and Dutch heritage with strong ancestral ties to south east Queensland. 'Chermy' appears in van Neerven's newly released second poetry collection Throat (UQP, 2020).

More by Ellen van Neerven ›

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