from the editor's desk
‘End of the Line’ by Emma Crook
With the support of the Copyright Agency‘s Cultural Fund, and in partnership with the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre, Westerly is proud to present our sixth Writers’ Development Program in 2022.
Three talented emerging writers were offered professional guidance and support in developing their work for publication in Westerly, both in print and online. ‘End of the Line’ by Emma Crook is also available to read in our latest print issue, Westerly 67.1.
End of the Line
I
I am restless reading a novel by Favel Parrett
set in Prague in the ’80s beneath an orange woollen blanket
sinking into the roughness of childhood limbs weary from surf
skin pinched tight with salt and sunburn
in the cabin with a variety show of green walls faded red curtains
torn brown lino a hole in the wall behind the fridge
overflowing with flying ants and the smell of greasy chops
and gutted fish rubbing against stale air
the man who owns the caravan park (who says he has been here
twenty years who says he’s burnt out and will die here
because what else is he going to do) suggests we use ant dust
on the rafters the window sills the skirting boards
and I suggest that he find us another cabin
II
I sleep in small bursts
on the floral cotton sheets
fish scale moon light falls
tepid ocean runs from my ear
billows on the pillow case
like a whisper
I want to move the bed to lie east west
so I can point my feet towards home
with my head beneath a window of stars
but the room will not allow it
Emma Crook is a writer, poet and photographer who lives on the coast in Kinjarling/Albany, Western Australia. She has a MA in Writing and worked as an English, Literature and Creative Writing teacher. Emma has been published in various print and digital publications, including Womankind magazine, and Westerly’s Online Special Issue, Westerly: Great Southern.
