Juliet Phraser
Tin Woman
Just like the tin man; I’m a creaky clad machine
I need oils and butters to lube me up
on the daily
People have told me that I always smell good
You smell so yummy and aromatic,
they say
but it’s not in a sex machine
type of way
Its in an essential oils and spiritualism with sensuality
type of way
which I’m trying not to feel ashamed over
maybe my lineage loved humidifiers and incense
or would encourage nature’s plant juices to melt onto me,
either way my skin is shiny
most days
from a massage bar of magnesium with shea butter
which melts into the skin like a thickened chicken grease.
Footpath Snails
When we go for our evening walks to the shops
I feel the sunken water beneath me in the pavement
and the humid thickness drop under my knees
there are snails everywhere
all along the street
littered on the footpath
slimly little bodies
sometimes I forget that they love the rain like I do
until they crunch on accident under my heavy boot
What does it mean to make a snail into a slug?
To break its homely shelter from the rain?
Maybe it feels closer to the rain or
it doesn’t make its way to the shops that night.
Juliet Phraser is a Naarm/Melbourne based Artist and Writer. She is currently completing her Fine Art Honours Year at Monash University. Living with chronic illness, her practice is invested in researching methods of emotional and physical endurance. Her writing has been published in Babyteeth Journal and nomorepoetry’s NoNoNo Paper. Her website is https://julietphraser.com/ and instagram @julietphraser.