against women for men
it would never end
a few places remote
hidden too far away
to be seen
it began at a crossroads
a place where a volcano
a catastrophic flood
a drought or some vast
ecological damage
tilted the earth not literally
it made the earth swing
so that the usual events
were disrupted
the seasons changed
the calendars were
no longer accurate
opportunists arrived
and like all opportunists
they raided and they took

they were fast moving
these opportunists
they came across the steppes
on horseback
we knew horses too
some of us were
named after horses
Melanippe Hippolyta
Lyssippe and more
for us horses were
soul creatures
we had long friendships
with horses they carried us
it was as if we had a single body

This is an extract from a longer work called Ulyssea about the dispersal of women by patriarchal societies.

**

Susan Hawthorne is a poet, novelist and publisher who lives and works on Djiru Country in Far North Queensland. Her most recent books are the novel Dark Matters and the poetry collection The Sacking of the Muses. Her book Cow was shortlisted for the Audre Lorde Poetry Prize and the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize.

P76 issue 9: Poetries of place/ displacement/ diaspora/ odyssey: On-line Edition. Table of Contents