You know it’s been a hectic week

when I lose my Candy Crush streak

I am lying splayed out

on the far side of a bender of the soul

The Universe said: Devon!

let’s strip away everything you do not need!

like the bathroom damp & the

shit vibes & the self-consciousness about being

poetic & thirsty & romantic

& let us replace it (personal maintenance!)

with everything you do:

attention

old friends & new

solitude (thank god)

(but not too much cos you’ve got

too much to love)

reassurance regarding the above

sleep though that’s um

an enigma this week cos

a) the possum is erratic &

b) you’ve got to DREAM WHILE WIDE AWAKE

ha! it’s this manifestation thing baby!

you have to be SO! MANIC! that the line between

fantasy & reality is really unclear

& somewhere in your slurred semi-subconsciousness

they’ll switch places

so you wake up & the next incarnation of

your perfect future is here:

just a whole lot of um // intimacy

in all forms

a whole lot of // balance

that paradoxically gives you this kinda

sweet version of motion sickness

like you’re on a ferris wheel of the spirit & you’re just going

around & around & around saying all the time

doesn’t it look nice from up here!

cos everything is up, & up, & up &

gravity just feels so unthreatening

aaaah I am a poet

so I find it quite easy to

shake the angels’ hands

reaching up into the cosmos saying

good game team, good joke, good meme

& they laugh & say haha yeah we know we couldn’t throw you Devon

we just wanted to spin you around a bit

so you could see some other shades of heaven

not that you needed a new direction

just some extra definition

just wanted to tug at those shadows, babe

now go fucking blind them.

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Devon Webb is a 25-year-old writer based in Aotearoa New Zealand. She writes full-time, exploring themes of femininity, vulnerability, anti-capitalism & neurodivergence. She shares her poetry online, through live performance, & has had her work included in over forty publications worldwide. She is an in-house writer for Erato Magazine, an editor for Prismatica Press, & is currently working on the final edits of her debut novel, The Acid Mile. She can be found on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok & Bluesky at @devonwebbnz.