Self-portrait as fox with Arctic hare


The worm of white on white, the whey and milk
of white, the chalk on milk and the bone, break
of bone, egg-wash and acrylic, ash, soft drifts
of ash, hoarse coughs of ash, snow also, laid
lightly on snow, piled on it, blindingly bright,
blanched, bled and white static, brushed pallid,
ivory as fluttered wings, alabaster as an empty
bowl, wan drone as drowse in a muted horn,
blank like a slogan, no, like a flag, clean, crisp,
like cut timber, plain, spotless as sheets, as an
accusation, as a cancellation. Can you see me?
I said: can you see me? I am there, I am there,
I am the killer in the centre of the picture,
I am the tooth and the wound and the nail,
white on the white on the white on the white.

Damen O'Brien

Damen O’Brien is a multi-award-winning poet based in Brisbane. Damen’s prizes include The Moth Poetry Prize, the Café Writers Poetry Competition, the Magma Judge’s Prize and the New Millennium Writings Award. His poems have been published in New Ohio Review, Arc Poetry Journal, Anthropocene, Aesthetica and many other journals. Damen’s first book of poetry is Animals With Human Voices.

More by Damen O'Brien ›

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