there's something so tragically romantic
about hand-picking flowers,
how we kill and kidnap what we cherish
and offer it to those we love.
you're allowed to be jealous of the dead.
you're allowed to turn your heartbreak into hope.
you're allowed to dismount your moth-self from their grasp.
you're allowed to move out, and move on.
you're allowed to grow after they've cut you.
bea is an 18-year-old student from Western Sydney who enjoys all things creative. This is their third year with Story Factory and their third published poetry collection, with okay enough being their first (2019), and splinters being their second (2020).
bea has worked with Utp for several years as part of the Utp Rising ensemble which started in 2019. bea also ghostwrites, and has been featured in Frankie Magazine as part of their October 2021 Spaces edition.
bea, a poet of subversion, survival and sass, uses poetry as both first aid and ammunition in the ongoing battle that is life.
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A Story Factory, Year of Poetry publication.
Year of Poetry is one of Story Factory’s most intensive programs. Throughout 2021, a committed group of young writers came to workshops every Thursday afternoon – first at Story Factory in Parramatta; then, when the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit, over Discord. Through these and many other disruptions, the young people in this program continued to write and support each other. This chapbook was written as part of that project.
This project was supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.