They Colonised the Moon

by Megan Cartwright

Night. A room more coffin than bed.
I run a can-opener around my scalp,
pull back the lid, let my mind seek out

the heads I lopped from succulents.
I spy, with my telescopic eye, the pups,
multiplied. Cerberus gardens, full blooms

mark the face of the turned steel moon,
food for tiny stallions and pastel giraffes
weighed down by breathing apparatus.

Megan Cartwright (she/her) is an Australian author and college Literature teacher. Her poetry has featured print and online in journals and magazines including Barrelhouse, Cordite Poetry Review and The Argyle.