Sue Fitchett

Sue Fitchett is a clinical psychologist living on Waiheke Island. Her work has previously appeared in various journals, anthologies, selections and art shows.  Her publications include Drawing Together jointly Spiral/New Womens Press (with Janet Charman & Marina Bachmann); Charts & Soundings Jointly Spiral/Spinifex; some small navigation aids (with Jane Zusters) and Palaver lava queen AUP.  She co-edited Eat These Sweet Words (women's volume of The New Zealand Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Poetry).  She was the Louis Johnson bursar in 2001/2002.

up the rabbit hole

Alice I wish you were here

you talk to the red queen

pop down rabbit holes

suddenly leave an ordinary life

while treading a hohum day

splotched grey pavements

a smell & swoosh of cars

weighs down the air

ahead three workmen lean

study a manhole's black mouth

at the corner of my eye

out of that underworld egress

strange creatures crawl

scuttle off in all directions

rose red   pohutakawa red

red as magma

small to large  very large

my voice cracks a sound

what are they

cockroaches says an older workman

or drain engineer or spaceman

hardly looks at me peers down

the benighted wormhole

plants his boots in its alien fire

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