"A Girl Reading" by Charles Perugini

"You stupid great lump of a girl."

I dream at night of whispered sand,
of camel trains and Samarkand.

"No one will ever hold your hand."

I see visions of ancient halls
where tapestry lovers tryst on walls.
Where passion waits impatiently,
with hasty strides for sight of me.

"You're so lazy!"

I have sailed on a lotus flower,
stolen gold from Persian towers.

"You never do anything"

I have walked in dust on the moon,
drifted on the winds of the world,
and all the while in a chair I'm curled.

Bio: Rae Pater is a New Zealand poet, she has three children and a dog called Bob.

She is an avid reader, especially in the fantasy/fairytale genre, and finds this influences her poetry. Writing poetry, for her, is like tapping directly into her subconscious and writing the contents down. Reading someone else's poetry, she thinks, is as close as you can get to being inside someone else's head.

Her work has been published in three print anthologies, The Christchurch Press, and online at, WORDSPACE, MiPo, Ella, Tryst, and Blackmail Press. Her work has also been accepted for publication in Scope Women's Issue, and Mind Caviar.

She currently studies English Literature at Canterbury University.

Contact Rae at saturnweb@paradise.net.nz