Trigger Warning

PEOPLE OF A SENSITIVE NATURE ARE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS EXPLORE FAMILY DYSFUNCTION AND ABUSE ISSUES

Zero Gravity

Gayle J. Greenlea

Excerpt for 9 November, 2021

<chapter> Two continued

        The sense of achievement Siobhan had expected to feel when she bedded Ryan eluded her. Not that he wasn’t a good lay. In fact, he was. Sensational, in fact. God, he was a great fuck. And a spunk to boot. Brooding Heathcliff-good looks and Roma charm. But somehow, the idea that she could seduce him with her sister watching, and even participating, which had seemed exhilarating before, now depressed her more than ever. Why did she keep doing this to herself? Get one up on Hilary, show her she could have what she has, even take what she has — and why stop there – bloody hell, she could be Hilary if she wanted to. Each time she succeeded at one small self-indulgent triumph, she’d feel like she’d summited Everest — for about five minutes — then came the big plunge: the downward spiraling, quick-sand-sucking, soul-destroying black dog barking up her ass. No, not even modest flats would be adequate penance today. Perhaps a little therapeutic self-mutilation later. Siobhan sighed, pulled out her purse and made her way to the cash register.

-Gayle J. Greenlea

YOU’RE THE DEAD TO ME

Second week – Growing – Day Nine

Day Two

Dead leaf says to Earth:
“I’m not tree, I’m something else.
What am I to be?”

-Paul Brookes

Bios And Links

-Gayle J. Greenlea

is an American-Australian poet and counselor for survivors of sexual and gender-related violence. Her poem, Wonderland”, received the Australian Poetry Prod Award in 2011. She shortlisted and longlisted for the Fish Poetry Prize in 2013, and debuted her first novel, Zero Gravity, at the KGB Literary Bar in Manhattan in 2016. Her work has been published in St. Julian Press, Rebelle Society, A Time to Speak, Headline Poetry and Press, The Wombwell Rainbow, Fevers of the Mind, Kalonopia and The Australian Health Review.