There are many moments where 2 metres might have saved us.

 

At dusk

the gnats turn gold

and ghost the grass.

 

I hear

their winged humming like

an electric miasma.

 

I walk through the swarm with my chin up and

my breath caught

warm in my throat.

 

I wear them

around my shoulders like

a shawl made of shiver and teeth.

 

I pull them close

and hope

the men hear them and know

to keep away.

 

Aimee-Jane Anderson-O’Connor

 

 

Aimee-Jane Anderson-O’Connor was awarded the 2018 Charles Brasch Young Writers’ Essay Prize, and was the co-winner of the 2017 Monash Prize for Emerging Writers. Her work has appeared in a number of literary journals, including Starling, Mayhem, Poetry New Zealand, Landfall, Mimicry, and Min-a-rets.