a collection of somewhat related love letters and poems titled ‘stargazing in an earthquake’

Jacob Ditchfield

pluto

all that is well is splitting at the seams

i’m upside down and above the ground, can’t you see?

mother whisked away in pluto’s chariot

he left behind his sceptre and his keys

make pristine your peace with me

at her headstone, a ghostly garden buried

her name marked in black liquor

under sultry moonlight, warm and honeyed

‘‘tis all a part of the plan’

the worlds fall apart between my crooked teeth

heartstrings frayed and violent at the edges

from grapes and sourdough to pomegranate seeds

but how candescent her spirit was on a starless night!

an angel harpooned from the heavens

now all that is left for her daughter is

a passed mother’s perfume

the vial shattered on my bathroom floor

watch her final elixir bleed and bleed out

until all her scent has drifted away

and the dappled tiles stain sickly sweet

i am still a child / carry me to bed

in my wallet in my jeans

they say it’s very beautiful over there

your contrary heart will be safe with me

spiderwebs

your eyes are hasty and wanting

upon the fiddle leaf fig in our bedroom

obsessed with its nurture and dress

its wiry frame has all but consumed you

‘come lay for a while’ in your heart

caress me, your comely festoon

i’m splayed out on the kitchen floor

you light a cigarette and sing a drunken tune

you are the summer shower

your kisses are tender, almost kind

you are a terrible storm

undying and tainted in my mind

i’ve been spinning all around you

like spiderwebs before the dawn

legs tangled between sullied sheets

your hands are too heavy to mourn

my eyes are cloudy like apple juice

swimming in the pool of your whiskey

yet you are not dignified nor refined

you were found out in a rusted flask (kiss me)

i am so adored by you

i’ve never been so in love

my makeup runs and these apples are bruised

my tears are almost always never sometimes enough

cinnamon

My dear, I couldn’t help but notice

how rather out of sorts you’ve been as of late

Tell me, how is an empty cocoon

so heavy and hulking amongst the poppies

aching in a sea of wildflowers so gentle they take your breath away

Now you’re falling asleep in the car,

warm fingertips on your neck,

soothed closer and closer to a long goodnight

Cinnamon sticks melted down into that faraway concoction

seeping softly through your veins

I must go now, but not before I tell you how

the vast plains of the universe,

with all its bloodied moons and anxious stars

couldn’t stretch far enough to contain

all my affections for you

Nor the deepest of blackholes

could swallow the violet sunrise

that awakens in my heart every day you come around

My dear, we are just stargazing in an earthquake

Watch how the comets fall for you

whilst I pray for the daffodils to spring between our fingertips

CORDUROY

There’s a bee sitting on me

and a pocket in your corduroy jeans

Oh, wouldn’t you like to know

just how deep the rabbit hole goes

I was spiralling, now I’m climbing

A picnic for an old friend

is helping this wilted heart to mend

I’m exhaling for the first time

in a long time

This is my excavation

and Vernon is thy minister

Ouch, i’m sitting on a bee!

Bees are shy and sweet

They cater the clovers evergreen

where the poppies used to sell to me

I’m wearing all corduroy

and it’s all perfect as far as i can see


Jacob Ditchfield is a Macquarie University student with a passion for creative writing. Growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Jacob enjoys playing guitar and reading young adult and romance fiction. His creative writing major work was long listed for the Macquarie Future Leaders Writing Prize.

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