The Hisashi
after Akasegawa Genpei
You might say this place is fenestrationally challenged
The only thing more futile than a sealed-off window is the eave left above it, estranged
A sequence of portholes now
the skins of architectural ghosts
An emplastered door breathes through a snorkel
(Remember that sea foam on the Sunshine Coast?
They called it chocolate mousse
Likely an emulsion of crude oil,
raw sewage and stormwater runoff)
At a rest home in Pakuranga, bedside
I invoke what I know of shemira
Tending to the dead is a favour
A good deed of truth, I’m told
A good eave protects
Shelters
No eating
No drinking
Definitely no durries
Cover up all the mirrors and
don’t discuss frivolous matters
in the presence of the body
It’s okay to read New Idea though
And when the rains come,
leaden and fat with promise
Just keep her legs straight
and the water off the walls—
About the author
Sara Savage is a writer, editor, broadcaster and producer based in Narrm/Melbourne, where from 2016–18 she was the host of the weekly arts & culture show Parallel Lines on Triple R 102.7 FM. Her writing has been published in Australian Book Review, Vice, VAULT and more. She doesn’t trust people who overuse the word ‘engagement’.
