of iiiiiii

Excerpt from ‘sequence spell(ing)’

further than we go the tune of
lurching over water & blurry vision under
water is damp is stable it is
watching us both water makes us happy

bottled water can be refrigerated can be
bought water trickles down a drainpipe &
spotted sky (re)arranges water water is a
slot machine for water water is a

thing & a unit of things a
thimble full of rain water & individual
rain drops dripping down eyelashes down the
awnings of shopfronts we walk past at

dreaded times of day grey washing water
drainpipes out of sight you & i
watered each other once you & i
maintain each other w/ water we can’t

count drops of water w/ (our) fingers
(our) skin absorbs water water doesn’t linger
over either epidermis it’s these newtonian border
oeuvres d’art this practice is of water

can’t be created it can be wasted
i will soon drink water water wasn’t
i wasn’t we all weren’t properly sedated
water calls the shots & water hasn’t

at present moment the capacity to study
the symbols we divine & find stilted
individual common denominators all make us giddy
a finger counts rippling water golden gilded

a thing & a unit of things
a storm is a thing w/ thunder
& a unit of things bearing lightning
‘be still’ we protest to the lighter

happy water vapour rising & (our) share
is increasing in value & (our) short
vision precipitates it{self} w/ an undying air
of water(’s) (im)possible sepulchre & funereal art

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olive bly (Tangata Tiriti, Pākehā) is an outer-disciplinary artist of european descent from Aotearoa (New Zealand), currently based in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Her debut poetry collection, chrysalis (d[i̶]s)section, was published in August 2025 with 5ever books.