from the editor's desk
‘Everlasting’ by Priya Kahlon
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. ‘Everlasting’ by Priya Kahlon is also available to read in our latest print issue, Westerly 67.1.
Everlasting
The florist told me that these flowers
would last forever. Or at least twelve months
if I kept them out of water and sunlight.
I wondered what it was like to watch life
drain away, as I looked at myself
in the mirror. For leaves to let go of light
as they give way to grey. To try repaint youth.
Colours catching on creases never there before.
Fooling no one that you escaped time.
Instead, maybe, that you sat by it. Held its hand.
Saw it for what it was. Right now.
Priya Kahlon is a poet and performer currently living in Boorloo/Perth, Australia. She writes to better understand the world and our place in it. Priya’s recent work has been featured in the anthologies Twice Not Shy (Night Parrot Press) and To Hold The Clouds (Centre for Stories).
