Rotor
Ann Shenfield
today the room is spinning
I stand up and try to steady myself
but it keeps spinning spinning
and I’m back on a ride
they call the rotor
in a vortex
with only my sister and nothing
to hold on to but the wall
we pressed ourselves against
in the background there were stories
of other children who’d come unstuck
those other children with their broken necks
and their other lives that we knew
were broken but not like ours
we protected ourselves by standing up
against the wall in the vortex
watching the floor fall from our feet
then later we’d laugh as if it was nothing
since we’d emerged unscathed
or as if we were unchanged
we held ourselves upright
and held on
and that ride went on and on
I’m wondering when it will stop
ANN SHENFIELD works across various media. Her animated films have received local and international honours including selection to the Berlin film festival. Her poetry has received numerous awards including the Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her poetry book A Treatment (Upswell Publishing) was listed in The Age Best Books 2023.