Download PDF Here
Live Encounters Poetry & Writing September 2023
Fall, poem by Dominique Hecq.
Fall
The house braces itself against rain
broken jalousie louvres
hieroglyphed window sills
skylight cobwebbing me
to fall beyond the gate
Baby grand lid open for show
playing us through the nights
until your fingers froze
& the keys fell silent
under the gaze of a golden orb
The dog is dead cat next door
bath at the tip with spatulas skimmers
basting brushes icing syringes rolling
pins pancake turners juicers
cutters grinders & measuring spoons
The front garden is a grin of missing teeth
blunt spears of picket fence
weep cracks in the retaining wall
holes in the screen chain’s steel gate
you roll your bicycle to the car
Surprise & sorrow packed
in the words thanks for having me
The crust of the earth loosens beneath my feet
i reach for my liquefying body outline
Home is a stranger now
© Dominique Hecq
Dominique Hecq grew up in the French-speaking part of Belgium. She now lives on unceded sovereign Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia. Hecq writes across genres and disciplines—and sometimes across tongues. Her creative works include a novel, six collections of short stories and fifteen books of poetry. Her latest publications are After Cage (2nd ed., 2022, Liquid Amber Press), Songlines (2023 Hedgehog) and Endgame with No Ending (2023, SurVision), winner of the 2022 James Tate Poetry Prize.