Poem

Close Contacts

by Jelena Dinic •

March 2022, no. 440

Poem

Close Contacts

by Jelena Dinic •

March 2022, no. 440

My husband has returned. A traveller whose flight was cancelled has found his way home. He slowly unpacks while I make space for the unexpected.

The house is full of him. I find him everywhere. He hovers in the kitchen and takes over the knives. He lifts paper to the window’s light and slices it with the sharpest blade.

I keep saying wash your hands, this virus is deadly. We wait from a distance for the world to return.

He cuts the tender loins and offers a slowly cooked dinner. I look for a tablecloth. We talk and take time to hear how each other’s sentences end.

The sky is empty of temptation. In the corner, the suitcase still lurks with a broken zip and an old address. An invitation. If we had a choice where would we rather be?

Jelena Dinic

Jelena Dinic arrived in Australia in 1993 during the collapse of Yugoslavia. She writes in Serbian and English. She is the recipient of the George Town Literary Exchange and The Arts Space residency in Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia and the Eleanor Dark Foundation Varuna Writers’ Retreat in the Blue Mountains. Her poetry and short stories have been published in literary journals and anthologies including Australian Book Review, Australian Poetry Anthology, Australian Poetry Journal, Best Australian Poems, Going Down Swinging, and Westerly among others. Her first full collection In the room with the she wolf was selected for the Adelaide Festival 2020 Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award and was the winner of the Mary Gilmore award in 2022. Jelena is dedicated to supporting students and families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, and passionately working with her team towards inclusion, settlement and wellbeing. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her family.