Phoenix Piping shrike Piping shrike Phoenix copyright 2010 Published by Piping shrike Bachelor of Arts Writing and Creative Communication University of South Australia Magill campus St Bernards Road Magill SA 5072 Copyright remains with the individual authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the author's written permission. ISBN Editing team leader Kylie Pedler Editing team Pru Axon Robert Bolton Nathan Giaccio Corinna lengo Kirstin Jenkins Kylie Pedler Ellayna Steele Poetry editor Ellayna Steele Author liaison Corinna lengo Document layout Pru Axon and Kylie Pedler Cover concept Kirstin Jenkins and Nathan Giaccio Cover design and art Kirstin Jenkins Proofreaders Pru Axon and Kylie Pedler Publication Dr loan a Petrescu and Judith Ti money coordinators Printed by Document services 1 Wilford Avenue Underdale SA 5032 I Contents Foreword Whisper words of regret We only confess our little faults Almost Corinna lengo 10 A wonderful thought Lowana Freschi 66 Heaven and hell Corinna lengo 13 My whole new world Lowana Freschi 70 Tainted memories Corinna lengo 15 Home: Where your smile is Lowana Freschi 75 Someone knows Daniela Calvario Father in uniform Josephine McGinley 79 Aged eighteen years Christopher Brown 19 The frustrated angler Haze Goulden 80 Fire Alex Dunkin 25 The green fairy Pablo Muslera 86 Sins of my father Caitlin Bormann 26 Arthur Bradley The singing messman Alan Sheldon 31 As they came, they were gone Sail Edoardo Crismani 98 A light of unnerving clarity Dark lady Pablo Muslera 99 The bathhouse Alex Dunkin 105 A scene from a larger story called Cleansing Greystone Caroline McNulty 42 Happy birthday Zhia Zariko 106 Maggie Alex Dunkin 49 Hitchhiker Nick Mi Ide 111 Unwind me Edoardo Crismani 50 Frank and Cressida Edoardo Crismani 51 The ghostly hands emerged from the page Angels must be dancing Edoardo Crismani 58 Author biographies 126 Terms of endearment Amanda Perri 59 Foreword Robert Bolton on behalf of the editing team 'Creativity-Like human life itself - begins in darkness. ' -Julia Cameron Welcome to Phoenix, the 2010 edition of Piping shrike, featuring the work of fifteen authors from the University of South Australia . Conceived in the darkness of creativity, Phoenix her a Ids the moment these new writers emerge into the light of publication. These pieces will take you on a journey into the hearts and minds of the best writers that the University of South Australia has to offer. Prepare to take a plunge into a vast ·literary landscape, from the medieval romance of The bathhouse to the musings on humanity, death and forgiveness in the Sins of my father. Legend has it that when a phoenix dies, it rises from the ashes. Similarly, our writers are rising from the vestiges of their student identities, ready 'Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the to take flight through darkness and light, weaving words of death, magic, phoenix' beauty and truth. Phoenix marks the beginning of this process of continued rebirth. - Christina Baldwin We would like to thank every author who contributed pieces towards this publication for their time and effort; without them, this Phoenix could not have risen . We would further like to thank you, the reader; as your eyes carefully peruse these works, you give the characters life . We hope you enjoy taking flight with Phoenix. 'Whisper words of regret' Almost Corinna Iengo still have me to ru n back to? Is that why you did it? Or was I just not good The sun shines behind you, forming a halo around your once angelic face. enough for you? If I wasn't, I really wish you had been enough of a man to You whisper words of regret before mentioning t he good times we had 1 tell me instead of stringing me along like some chew toy you could turn to thinking that I will reminisce and run into your outstretched arms. Six months ago I would have done just that-six months ago I did do that. But when you got bored with your shiny new possessions. I'm not the gi rl I was back then. I was livi ng in a world un like my own, one You're talking to me now, saying something about missing me, and I'm where you we re the perfect prince who could do no wrong, regardless of surprised to find myself not caring about a single word that comes out of the evidence thrown my way. So when you stand t here, with that half smile our mouth. I focus instead on your face, on how easily you can he through that you know I adore and the sun shining around your form, I almost let ~our teeth, with only the slightest twitch to the left side of your mouth to myself believe that you may have changed this time. indicate that what you're saying is not entirely true. Suddenly I want to slap Almost. that smirk from your face, but I realise that I'm more angry at myself. It onl took me a couple of months to notice that expression as the signifier Your hand re aches out to meet mine, gently running yo ur finger over my of :lie, yet I chose to ignore it every single time, chastising myself for knuckles. This time I'm able to stay focused, knowing that the gesture is being paranoid and clingy. I promise myself that I will never.go against anything but innocent. Manipulation becomes you. I can see the gears my intuition again, and will trust tha.t voice in my. head 1mpl1c1tly, because turning behind your clouded eyes as you try to work you r way back in so that you won't have to be alone tonight. You're not afraid of losing me; although the t ruth hurts, ignorance 1s far from bliss. you're afraid of being alone. If another girl threw herself at you I have no I realise that I've been staring past you, rather than at you, and somehow doubt that you would swing her into your arms, turn your back on me and you've managed to stop picturing your own reflection long enough to walk into the sunset without a second thought. That's how little I mean to notice this. You're saying my name, and it suddenly occurs to me that I you, and that's how clueless I was to have wasted such precious moments absolutely despise that word coming off of your lips. I've always thought of my life on you. the way someone says your name can tell you everything that person. thinks about yo u, whether they say it with that slightest hint of d1sda1n .and I stood up for you, and I think that's what hurts the most. I chose not to a smile too wide, or if their eyes go bright with excitement and their voice believe my friends, people who had supported and loved me for years, goes up an octave. I want to kick myself when I hear how you say mine. because I needed to believe the best of you . I needed to believe that I had not wasted the last two years of my life being completely oblivious as you treated our relationship as nothing but an extended fling, finding new Cadence. You speak in a soft tone of voice that should be accompanied by.a shake gi rls at every corner. But I was wrong. I'd like to say that I was young and of your head, as though speaking to a child who has walked 1n with mud naive, but find that such an excuse is simply not good enough. Ignorance all over their clothes. And you have an exasperated loo k 1n your eye as you is unacceptable. I should have been able to figure it all out. I wou ld have if I wonder why I can't just agree with you. You're starting to get frustrated had been strong enough to pay attention, or wanted to analyse what I had because I'm not being as naive and obedient as I should be, after you have seen. Instead, I made justifications, defended you, created a world in my mind where you could do no wrong: a world where anything that happened put all that time into training me. was out of your control and you hated every moment of it. Suddenly there's a small box thrust into my hands, and I feel my heart stop at the thought of an engagement ring . My chest constricts at the But you didn't, did you 7 You found every moment of your betrayal more fear of having to reject you, or worse, at not being able to say no. All the enjoyable than the last because you knew you were getting away with it. times I imagined this moment speed through my mind, and I hate to think Did it add an extra thrill to know you could do something so wrong without that if this had happened a few weeks earlier I may have fo rced myself to any consequence? That you could have any girl you wanted at any time and 11 10 Heaven and hell Corinna Iengo continue in this oblivion. I can feel panic creeping into my system. I close 'Are you from Tennessee? 'Cause you're the only ten I see!' my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves and release the air slowly creating a sense of inner peace that I thought I would never feel again.