South

i wake before dawn

the sky is the colour of sea foam over the harbour rocks

the ocean sleeps, its slow exhale lapping against the hull

inky in the darkness

autumn wind blows

the first bite of winter

dressed in the honeyed scent of osmanthus flowers

in my village they will soon begin the harvest

picking tea from the fields overlooking the strait

baking mooncakes for the festival

coating the eggs with lotus paste

they will take their offerings to Ma Cho Po and pray for our journey

for the abundance that awaits us

beyond the plantations and indenture

the coolies’ debt

No Dogs or Chinese

behind us the mountain peaks fade

the shoreline dwindles

gulls arc

flashing their white wings like ghosts

the sky spreads with split golden yolk

we raise our sails to the northern wind

and follow its song to warmer waters

where the islands dot the sea like shards of jade

on turquoise silk

and the branches of the banyan trees

coil upwards

opening their palms to the

light of the south

Lyn Dickens

Lyn Dickens is a mixed heritage Asian Australian writer and editor living on unceded Kaurna land. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of The Saltbush Review, and the winner of a 2022 Editorial Mentorship with Liminal and Writers SA. Her writing has been published in Australia and internationally, appearing in Kill Your Darlings, Meniscus, and Mascara Literary Review. Lyn was awarded a 2021 Write It Fellowship with Penguin Random House, shortlisted for the Deborah Cass Prize, and longlisted for the Richell Prize.

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