Trigger Warning PEOPLE OF A SENSITIVE NATURE ARE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS EXPLORE FAMILY DYSFUNCTION AND ABUSE ISSUES Zero Gravity Excerpt for 26 November, 2021 <chapter> Two continued Again, Owen paused a beat, then nodded. Not sure where this was going, he stalled by reaching across the table to refill their wine glasses. He studied the deep, rich garnet liquid in his own glass and found himself transported to another time, another glass of wine on a solitary beach in Mexico; Hilary across the table from him on their honeymoon, anxiety clouding her mercurial grey eyes, choosing the intimacy of that moment to reveal family secrets. “Yes,” Owen whispered, the word containing within it the lifetime of pain Hilary had shared with him that night, suffering which he had willingly taken into himself and borne with her, though it contributed, in part, to the eventual destruction of their marriage. Confused by his distraction, and impatient to get on with his story, Ryan coughed gently and Owen looked up. “I think I’ve found her.” -Gayle J. Greenlea YOU’RE THE DEAD TO ME Fourth week -A Waning –

Day Five

Bramah’s invention,

Bird’s hands, reconstructed town,

All reinvention

-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.