Madeleine Litchfield
peter pan glittered through the frame
whispering into the bleached room
single bed, bars up the side
my neverland was soon
grandma prayed for me in church
I wished upon him at the stars
but peter never showed
because I stayed in that bed for months to come
it isn’t as bad as it looks, sickness
yet the unkept promises
swelled up my rashy skin
thinned out my hair till thread
puffed up my face so much my friends stopped visiting
why did pan do that to a nine-year-old?
I found neverland on my own
it’s seagrass rekindling my skin
welcoming my weary legs
onto the twinkling sand
with a slow darkness
encircling tourists till they left for their cars
I could finally dip my toes in the ocean
peter pan never got back to me
the adults lied that I’d get better soon
but you can’t lie to a child
who sees from an ocean room
Author: Madeleine Litchfield is a second-year Creative Writing student, completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at QUT. She has a passion for exploring deeper and suppressed parts of identity and the human condition from metaphorical and personal interpretations in her work. Madeleine enjoys creating art out of everyday moments and has a fondness for poetry and non-fiction.
Artist: Sarah McLachlan is a third year Bachelor of Creative Writing student who likes to draw in her spare time. She wishes to combine both her art and writing skills to create a webcomic of her own one day, but she’s also open to illustrating for books and book covers. Sarah is also a major The Legend of Zelda fan and can be found drawing a lot of elves. You can find her at @hideriame02 on Instagram.
Editors: Jasmine Tait and Eliana Fritz