eleanor rose king merton
bats
in melbourne there’s a park full of bats sleeping during the day. at night the bats
wake up and we watch them yawning stretching and having sex. you are proud
that the bats are so much bigger than animals in new zealand.
i sleep in a park during the day waiting for you. your flatmate andrew
mows the lawn and i watch the dodgy extension cord to make sure he doesn’t die.
he and i are friends now preening in front of all his mirrors.
i explain how good i am at ethical relationships. then at night you don’t let us go
to footscray because you are angry at people who live there. so we go
to brunswick and make fun of someone’s pretentious friend. it is stupid
how big the city is and hard to get around.
i notice your hair shed on the carpet so i vacuum and we watch scream
with our feet on my mattress. the house is a jungle steamed up by your tears
over alex who i love to tell you is an ugly boy who is not
even as smart as you. i tell you you’re beautiful and clever every time you ask me to
because you are.
when my boyfriend saves as much money as me i will move to melbourne
and show him the bats. but mostly i will get drunk avoid footscray with you
and make sure you only date women.
Eleanor Rose King Merton is a poet and editor living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her work appears in various publications including Sport, Sweet Mammalian, Sick Leave (AU) and Peach Mag (US).