To the Occupant by Emma Neale

Author:Emma Neale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Otago University Press
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Small Wonder

Our youngest, back home from his nana’s,

catapults himself into the kitchen on the sprung elastic

of a secret he says he can never, ever tell.

I set a knife aside, towel my hands dry,

clasp him close and say, ‘Hey, hey,

little one, hey? ’

He pushes in hard at the sides of his mouth

as the blue-green fire of his irises

brims and flickers, swells and burns.

He pounces at his own impulsive tongue

so it’s trapped between two knuckles

the way a cat will paw-slam a skink;

and again with both hands

in some odd, kitschy copy of an Edvard Munch,

he stretches down his bottom lip

—so I’m braced for a tale

of rapscallion shenanigans: muck and break,

sweet-thievery from Nana’s biscuit tins;

felt-pen sunglasses and beer can

scribbled on a Jesus bookmark,

or water-pistol bulls-eyed! at her corkboard

with its ancient Xeroxed articles

that frown, ‘Would YOU want monkeys for uncles?’

or warn, ‘Harry Potter: Gateway Drug to Satan’.

‘Did some trouble come up at Nana’s?’

‘No! ’ and his wail says he’s battled the urge to tell

for the entire afternoon …

I have to promise not to laugh.

Not to pass it on.

I have to promise again, promise.

I have to close the door, yes, bend down,

so he can whisper inside his hands

that are cupped now like a cloche

to ward off admonishment’s frost,

block disbelief’s

orange wire-cutter beaks,

protect the pale-pink nimbus

of his secret

as it buds, opens.

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