Rachel White

Manna Gum

after Sam Oster’s infrared photographs:
Fox Creek Fire Ground (Diptych)

When the dark smoke
came, you raised
your arms in surrender, feet
rooted to the spot. Flames
engulfed you—blank white,
absent white, lily white—your limbs
clawed at the sky. You opened
your eyes in a charcoal graveyard,
the landscape smudged; still
you looked expectantly
for the birds to return—even knowing
you had turned to stone,
even knowing
everything had burned.

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Rachel White (she/her) is an American-born poet and artist who lives and works on Kaurna land in South Australia. Her poetry has been featured in Kissing Dynamite, placed highly commended in the 2022 Woorilla Poetry Prize and has been nominated for Best Microfiction 2024. Her work appears in Lunch Ticket’s Amuse Bouche, Rogue Agent, Third Wednesday Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Amethyst Review and Porcupine Lit. You can find Rachel on Instagram @rachelwhite.studio