S  e  c  r  e  t  s    blackmail press 24
Callum Stembridge
New Zealand

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Callum Stembridge was born in Auckland & grew up in a number of its suburbs. He worked in the Theatre in Auckland, Wellington & in various tours around New Zealand before moving his life to Paris in 2004, and later East London. He returned to Auckland in late 2007, where he lives in Herne Bay
3 Seconds

They Hug

Not a fleeting embrace
Not a pat on the back
Not a casual greeting

But A Long Warm Hold
Hands wrapped around shoulders
Heads rested together
Eyes closed in a smile

There's history there
There's memory shared
There's things the world can't know
For three long seconds
They stand here holding

They know who they are





Boiling & Cleansing


I'm doing the dishes
at 11.45
staring down
at another
midnight
attempting to be
silent

You were arguing
with Pete
again
and now things
down
there are
quiet

So I gingerly
tackle
the boiling water
and scrape
disease
away
and all this
desperate
silence
is killed
by a hot knife
scorching my hands
clattering
down


How long can I lie like this?






OVER

The Girl in the seat across the aisle
Stares at the photo                                                                     She's used as a book
mark
and stares
Asymmetric ravens hair shielding her dark eyes from
the world

and stares

Her mouth open a tiny sliver her lower lip quivers as she draws
sharp breath 

and stares

as our transport shudders her body to the top of the hill while the new sun is rising
and climbing
stares

and stares

Stares hard at the photo of             A Man                smiling in red swanndri         
by a shed
door
and stares

a long road north more

then puts Him sideways
on her chapters page


and closes the book