Sugar plum fairies,
she says for laughs.

She was always
an eloquent hippopotamus
darling.
Her juvenile puppy fat
inflamed
by the words.

Wounded cauliflower,
no one
wants to be seen.



It would have been amusing
if I had had a husband.
He could have helped me
raise his child. I’d be at work
and he’d take her for strolls
in her pram. No Nanny.
If I had had a husband,
I wouldn’t have experienced
as many sleepless nights
nor dark, weary eyes.
He could have been an innocent,
thwarting a repeat
of lost lives and games over.


Tiegan Dakin is an emerging poet, budding artist and photography enthusiast living in Australia. She started writing poetry when she was ten years old and has been writing it for more than five years. She loves the sound of rain and reading poetry when she has the time.