after Fiona Pardington
It is between pest and cholera, she says
the world, this state of affairs,
down her long, straight lashes she stares,
describing the falling of her thoughts on
the great indifference of many,
thoughts that are weighty like sand in the bottom
of an hourglass as we drift past
the bold still life photographs
of bursting pomegranates
crammed with seeds like grenades,
each mournful graceful epitaph
to pearly skinned nudes, egg-shell eyelids,
silver tear ducts, magenta-shaded lips
and feathered creatures, small bottles,
wildflowers drooping in glass.
We leave the gallery reflecting that
more than ever in this age
love is the answer to all these echoes
and fears in the heart’s cave
and as once Einstein to his daughter wrote,
the universal force of love will surpass
all this and we hold these words like still-life treasures
in our hearts.
…
Leila Lois is a dancer and writer of Kurdish-Celtic origin, who identifies as bisexual. She writes dance reviews, essays and poetry. Her work is published in various journals in Australia, NZ, Canada and USA, including Cordite Poetry, Honey Literary Journal, and Southerly Journal.
