I paid my long-term library fines take that well, i've not paid them yet but i plan on it tomorrow i'm very busy, have been these last 7 years and who can blame me? my 20s are eating themselves but i'm trying to learn to write again and i need new books. i'll eat my meal of shame. shame of inertia what else fills your horrid plate? don't talk to me about the personal loan. oh god how long can 10 k spun to spinifex wrap around an empty e-saver? another 5 years, apparently. but i said i won't speak on it. i'm taking control of my life back. i got a job in an office and everything. i live in a city apartment. you can see a corner of skyline from the stairwell and there's a shared courtyard with crabapple trees and sour limes i haven't lost my keys in months and don't have to pull any more weeds i said i'm taking my life back and that means only so much boozing that means only so many declined phone calls i'm polite to telemarketers because i've been one. i am going to the gym tomorrow i promise i swear it on the issey miyake pleats please slim fit pants two months in my trolley and the UE BOOM i'm afterpaying tonight. you see i'm taking control of my life back building biweekly routines to keep myself accountable. i thrive in structure i said in my last job interview and you almost would believe it. i never asked the vmail password for my deskphone and live now in blinking 28 light mystery. i take direct action with my break times. i am entitled to my full half hour. if not for covid i would have lived in europe by now. if not for covid i would have dumped my ex two whole years earlier. that's cruel but they say the same of life and i'm no longer a passenger, i'm taking control back, taking charge and i'm starting at the library tomorrow
Dior Sutherland is a poet living and writing in Naarm/Melbourne whose work has appeared in Voiceworks, The Suburban Review, Penguin Specials, Midsumma Festival, Red Lights Arts And Culture and others. They write to explore their identity and memories, with focus on engaging with being non-binary and looking at the world around them. Their work can be found on IG at @burn.the.hour