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best read on desktop <3
Muscae Volitantes
Every day, I wake and swim in aqueous
humour—jolt to chase the flies in my
peripheries, pinching neck and optic
nerve. I cannot venture further into my
Self. Mirrorless lens shudders, shutters
close. I swim again with the mayflies.
Time is programmed into the telomeres
of my days, arcing with the setting sun
till its iris melts and my vision clouds.
A moribund sky presses mayfly to
cornea; shadow-wings fuzz and fuse
like oshibana, filtering my view. I shed
a wish and coax it from my tear duct,
blow it to the wind, watch it fly away.
Brilliant Poetry champions the power of poetry to make the complex and often abstract world of scientific inquiry accessible and captivating to all. The competition seeks to reinforce the value of artistic expression in expanding our perception of what it means to know and to discover.
Brilliant Poetry is an initiative of Dr Sam Illingworth, Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University and Kylie Ahern, publisher of science communication publication, The Brilliant, and CEO of strategy consultancy, STEM Matters.
Thank you Brilliant Poetry for shortlisting my poem <3
You can read the other shortlisted and winning poems here.
With love,
Caitlin x
In case you missed it…
Altars & Artists: Ella Tan
Ella Tan (she/her) is a Perth-based humanitarian storyteller, writer and photographer. Her work has been published in leading global outlets, including BBC, Marie Claire, Elle, Psychologies, Stylist and New Zealand’s Listener...
Congratulations Caitlin - well deserved, it is a beautiful poem.