Helen Patrice

A Little Less Gravitation, A Little More Stillness, Please
 
Farewell Moon, as you leave our loving sight.
Stolen by time and loosening bonds.
 
The fish are tired of your tidal pull.
The merfolk exhausted.
Their homes and palaces never stay.
Finally, they will be free of the back and forth.
 
In the Mariana Trench,
Kraken run an organic machine
to wind back gravity
and sell it off in black chunks
to the likes of Mars.

Helen Patrice is an Australian writer living in Melbourne. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, magazines, and newspapers, including: Meanjin, Aurealis, Interzone, Mattoid, Southerly, Westerly, Orb, Living Now, The Age newspaper, Lady Liberty, Knot Literary Journal, Andromeda Spaceways, Spellcraft, and Nova. She works in short fiction, non fiction, memoir, and poetic forms, and her new book of poetry, INTO DARK WOODS, will be out next year.