Paris Rosemont – Cry of a wounded gazelle

Oh, hell! I thought my life was going to end today.

My son—how did you so wildly descend today?

You frighten me – your eyes ablaze with ill-intent;

where have you gone? I feel like I’m condemned today.

Your grandpa is in hospital through what you’ve done;

his shattered bones no surgery will mend today.

I’m sorry baby, but I have to turn you in –

before you do more damage you’ll regret today.

Police arrive with cuffs and tranquilisers drawn;

they’re here to put an end to this mayhem today.

Incensed, you hunt me down on your unhinged rampage.

And I—your mother—cry a requiem today.

---

Fishing

For Oliver

‘The sea birds always know,’ my son says.
‘See the cormorants out on the rock?’

Through the glare of the late afternoon sun
I make out tuxedoed silhouettes on a shelf

of black that juts into the soft rippling sea.
The birds stand still, feigning nonchalance,

but I imagine their amygdalas acutely aware,
their black eyes shrewd marbles alert

to movement under the warped surface.
‘It’s all about the timing,’ he says. And in

a series of deft movements, six birds
have broken the surface; synchronised

divers, they disappear as one, and surface
as many and fly low straight lines back

to their promontory, small silver torpedos
in their beaks. A tilt of their long S-bend

necks, and their prey slip smoothly, it seems,
down their gullets—like riders down

waterpark slides.
Closer in, I hear a splosh
and fix my gaze on the fluorescent float

my son has cast out with his line. The birds
regard him calmly, curious to see how he fares

in their domain. He lacks their grace
and efficiency, but it’s not long till my son

reels in our dinner. We watch the sun dip golden
into the water and the cormorants scatter

to where they roost amid the glitter of dusk.

---

© Paris Rosemont

Paris Rosemont is an Asian-Australian poet whose poetry finds eclectic homes, from literary journals through to kooky underground zines! Some of the publications Paris’s poetry features in include: Verge Literary Journal, FemAsia Magazine, and Red Room Poetry’s ‘Admissions’ Winner: New England Thunderbolt Poetry Prize 2022; Shortlisted: Born Writers Award 2023 and Hammond House Publishing International Literary Prize 2022; Longlisted: Liquid Amber Poetry Prize 2023, New Writers Poetry Competition 2023 (UK) and Joyce Parkes Award 2022. Awarded: Atelier Artist-in-Residence Ireland 2024, Kathmandu International Artist in Residence 2024, Varuna Shanghai Lamplight Residency 2023 and WestWords/Copyright Agency Fellowship 2023. Paris’s niche is performance poetry. She has performed at events including the Sydney Fringe Festival, world premiere of Slam Messiah 2022, Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2023 and Short+Sweet Festival Illawarra 2023, where she was awarded Best Script, Best Actor (runner up) and Best Overall Production (runner up). Paris’s debut poetry collection, Banana Girl, is due for release late 2023.