Neuro Logical
The Great Escape - Bianca Grace
We lock your gastroparesis
in the Disney hotel room
you have spent a week
recovering in
after we arrive in Florida
to play at Animal Kingdom.
We run through the gates,
and fly through the sky
on the back of a banshee
to your freedom.
At the 3D bug film,
you pretend vomiting
your entire existence
down to a skeleton
is less bloodcurdling
than the tarantula
reaching across
the room for your face.
When we arrive in Japan
I take the tubes
from your backpack
that were the bullet train
to your stomach
and place your camera inside.
No longer is your five-foot-eight-inch
figure malnourished
but ravenous to take photos
of the temples and shrines
in Tokyo.
I lug your equipment
around my shoulders
while you fill up
on your dreams
once dashed.
It's the lightest
weight I will ever carry.
When we land home
in Australia
we arrive back to reality,
and realise we never left
the four walls
of your lounge room
loaded with medications,
feeds and a diary
full of appointments.
But I will always travel
with you, hand in hand
to any challenge
you can’t muster
the strength
to withstand alone.
Bio:
Bianca Grace is a poet living in Australia with drop bears hiding outside her house. She is also known for racing down the street with kangaroos. Her work has appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, Selcouth Station, Capsule Stories, The Daily Drunk Mag, Postscript Magazine and elsewhere. Follow her on Twitter: @Biancagrace031