Voice Message #205 | Kathryn Reese
oh my girl—someone is going to love you with your bed hair
and black coffee breath your mismatched pajamas and naked toenails
your late for the bus kiss your text message shopping list
your half-written story the back of a receipt
someone is going to love your late-night insomnia your just-in-case
herbal tea your ginger caramel dark chocolate fudge your fingerprints
all over the fridge door all over the stove all over the dishcloth
someone is going to love your do the dishes later lick the bowl first
love your rainy-day melancholy soundtrack
love when you ask them out for a walk and miss
the track and skirt right round the island the long way
someone is going to love that you see whales or sea lions
or mermaids or a great purple octopus emerging from the waves
someone is going to think you’re a lighthouse
someone is going to want to swim in your shelly cove
someone is going to long to run their fingertips through
your tussock grass graze on your samphire drink
deep from that puddle of rain by your navel oh my
gorgeous island girl
someone is going to love you
About the Author:
Kathryn Reese is a poet living on Peramangk land in Adelaide, South Australia. She works in medical science and enjoys solo road trips, hiking and chasing frogs to record their calls for science. Her poems can be found in Gone Lawn, Engine Idling, Kelp Journal and Australian Poetry Journal.