Latrinalia
by Rosa O’Kane
(Palace Cinema, New Acton)
Dyson blades blow hot
over cross-legged ladies as they queue
to spend a penny. Enthroned
I ignore the banging doors
bouncing flouro off grey laminate.
I will not be moved from this untitled work
penned next to the toilet-roll holder.
The slim wrist slipped in the sleeve.
The majesty of the thenar eminence.
A manicured man’s hand—a musician’s
drawn from love’s memory?
Fingers poised for the purest note.
Rosa O’Kane was born in Northern Ireland. Hydrography of the Heart was a commended entry in Hippocrates Prize in 2014 and she was shortlisted for the A.C.U. poetry prize in 2018 and 2019. Her poems have appeared in Not Very Quiet (N.V.Q) on-line journal, The Canberra Times, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and Blue Nib.
