States of Poetry - Poems

States of Poetry 2016 - South Australia | 'Alterations to the little black dress' by Jelena Dinic

by Jelena Dinic •

States of Poetry South Australia - Series One

States of Poetry - Poems

States of Poetry 2016 - South Australia | 'Alterations to the little black dress' by Jelena Dinic

by Jelena Dinic •

States of Poetry South Australia - Series One

A little pin-up
three fingers
above the knees.

Behind the curtain
a dress-up game –
pretty things come undone.

He chalks lines
on raw stitches.
I catwalk.

My body fits the timeless black.
'You can live in it, or die'
smile the lips full of needles.

Do I look a little dead
with black fabric
on bone-pale flesh?

Suddenly in the mirror
I see the last party.
This dress is me.

In the front row
button-eyes watch
a grand entrance into the hand-made hole.

Around a little black dress
the roots of the earth
grow matching belts.

Jelena Dinic

Recording

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 Her first full collection In the room with the she wolf was selected for the Adelaide Festival 2020 Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award and was the winner of the Mary Gilmore award in 2022.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.