The crypt is crammed with paintings–
A light-filled darkness.
Church or gallery?
An underworld, luminously
minimalist and airy.
The mountain is cold at midnight.
We have drunk hot wine, spiced red.
In our hands we carry torches,
lighted and flaming.
We start slow, at the top, finding
the white path through the snow.
Susan Hawthorne has two collections of poetry Bird (1999) and The Butterfly Effect (2005). Her work also appeared in a Penguin four-poet collection, Four New Poets (1993). Her poetry has been published in literary journals in Australia (e.g. Meanjin, HEAT, Hecate among others), USA (e.g. Sinister Wisdom), Canada (Tessera), NZ, Germany and the UK (Slow Dancer).