Fill the spaces between us with cement

I dreamt 

we were sieged by

a giant Boa constrictor

and the only way

to free ourselves

was with a much smaller

Boa constrictor.

The heat sends me nights 

thick with dreams. 

We open our windows at 3 a.m.

and stare out at the stars. 

I bite my fingernails back

Its click leaking into the corners of quiet.

Hollow humping

of cicada sighs

fill the space between us

like cement.

By Maisie Chilton Tressler, Briana Jamieson, & Jane Paul:

Maisie Chilton Tressler

Maisie is a Waihōpai born, Pōneke based artist-poet-teacher. Co-editor and production manager of art-poetry zine Salty. Maisie also has work published by Oscen, A Fine Line magazine, Flash Frontier, Overcommunicate, Anthropozine, ecARTnz and Salty. Instagram: @moomologist

Briana Jamieson

Briana Jamieson is a Wellington artist and writer with BFA(Hons) from Massey University. She is founder of the poetry publication Salty. Her work has been published by Mimicry, Food Court and Salty. Recent exhibitions include 3AM, Parrotdog Gallery, Wellington, July 2019 and Ghosts, floating, Toi Pōneke, Wellington, April 2019. You can find more of her work online at brianajamieson.com and instagram.com/brianajamieson

Jane Paul

Jane is a poet, teacher and co-editor of Salty, born and bred in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her poems have been described as feeling like you're "standing on a pebbled beach, feeling sea spray in the air, and laughing with bliss at how beautiful the world is".