Maria Takolander

Choose to be a child,
Hungry for the

Eternal mother.
Suck the life

Out of anyone
Who comes close

As if you deserve it.
Savage those

Who have dared
Deny you.

Finger the soft places,
Word souls,

They keep hidden
From the world

That only
Sleep can prise

Open.
Barricade your door

With books
Heavy as bricks.

Remember: always
Protect yourself.

*

Believe you are special.
You are the one

Of a kind
The world needs

To hear about.
You have a

Well inside
Deep and echoing

As a tragedy.
You see violence

Others cannot see
But do not see

Yourself
Or paranoia.

Rather, you are
Diabolical,

The messiah
Who will reveal

The world
Rooted in the

Primitive pain of
Your own image.

Maria Takolander is a Lecturer in Literary Studies and Professional and Creative Writing at Deakin University in Geelong. Her poems have appeared in numerous national and international publications, including The Age, Australian Literary Review, Australian Book Review, Meanjin, Antipodes, Agenda, The Best Australian Poems and The Best Australian Poetry. She is the author of the chapbook of poems, Narcissism (Whitmore Press, Geelong.) A full-length collection of poems, Ghostly Subjects, is forthcoming with Salt Publishing (Cambridge.) <maria.takolander@deakin.edu.au>