Matchbox

Anneka-Rose Galletly

You built me a house

from sounds we made together

things said without the restraint of language

four walls and a roof

a couple windows, too

 

and I pushed,

so I knew

you—

all of you

not just when dust echoed in sunlight,

bathing naked bodies

in ethereal sweating glow

so I could sit with you in the shadows

untouched by open windows

and see if the walls trembled

 

There’s a special kind of hate

reserved only for lovers

and I searched for it in your eyes

but

when I found it,

I didn’t know what to do

 

Passion is conceited

flaunting itself on angered lips

but

passion has conceded that it is not always needed,

for the deceit of affection

to persist

 

comfortable silence I’d prefer

instead of the outrage or the violence

that could have risen from words left unsaid

But we’ve always chosen noise

to fill up the void

that waits aside our bed

 

the bed frame snapped

your walls came down

you spoke your mind

I found I knew you both better

and less

in time.

 

Your morals, weathered –

were they instilled in rock or silt?

All it took was for you to be left alone.

 

And what happens now?

I’m looking to you, and you’re looking to me

And there’s a box of matches tucked between us, between the sheets

What now?

 

Paint the house red, set it alight and say it was never there.

Author: Anneka-Rose Galletly is a Gold Coast based, emerging writer. Her passion for writing stems from a desire to examine the human condition. She believes that within the deconstruction of existence and consciousness lies the yellow brick road to cultivating a deeper connection to the communion of humanity. Insta handle: anneka_rosie 

Artist: Cyndra Galea (she/they) is in the third year of her Bachelor of Fine Art’s in Creative Writing with a minor in Professional Communications. When not found with her head in a book or three, Cyndra can be found radioactive antique hunting, fixing classic cars with her dad, working in their vegetable garden, drawing on her iPad, or writing and editing her manuscript. Cyndra aims to work in the publishing industry when she finishes university, but also dreams of releasing novels of their own.

Accessibility Reader: Tuesday Tomlins

Editors: Rory Hawkins and Tracy Channell