An Ode To The Poet Whose Heart Is Broken by A Immerse in The Invisble by Xue Li
The Discipline of Relentless of Growth by Mildred Ling If Trees Could Talk by Francesca Fernandez Between Pages by Jennie Lyn Ligamzon A Magical Friendship: The Incredibly Gay Burt Wonderstone by Alex Banham
Editor: Abby Joy S. Sy dirckseyeditor@ecuguild.org.au
Dircksey may contain topics that can be confronting for readers. These topics include racism, homophobia, violence, blood, hateful language, death, animal cruelty and mental illness. No individual trigger warnings are given in the pages of the magazine, so please, take care
Jennie Lyn Ligamzon
Xue Li
Mildred Ling
Alex Banham
The opinions expressed within this magazine are not necessarily those of the Dircksey Editor, Edith Cowan University, or the ECU Student Guild. All reasonable care is taken to ensure Dircksey articles, and other information in the magazine, is current and accurate at the time of publication, however, no responsibility can or will be taken by the entities listed above, should an issue of Dircksey contain errors or omission.
Dircksey acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which this magazine was created, the Whadjuk Nyoongar people.
If you would like to contribute to Dircksey, you can contact the editor via the listed email above, or visit us on https://dircksey.com
a letter to the readers; to myself
And just like that, we find ourselves only months away from the end of 2025. To poetry,totheartthatofferedmesolaceinan unfamiliar place, this marks the close of my journeyasDircksey’seditor.
Through words I’ve encountered, and artworks that left me in silence, I have learned to see again the quiet beauty of creation. This year has been an unfolding of adventure, heartbreak, and stress; a tangle of mixed emotions that shaped me in ways I’ll carryforward.
Be afraid, be confident. Be happy, be sad. Cry, rage, laugh until it hurts. Allow yourself to feel it all— for even silence, even the act of hiding, is its own kind of feeling. There is colour in the darkness of mistakes andoffallingapart.
Andasliferevealsitselfasapuzzle,Irealise we are never meant to be complete. It is the lessons and memories along the way that slowly carve us into something whole. But evenso,unfinishedpuzzlesarestillbeautiful, pieces scattered across the table, stories left untold.
These are the last words I leave with you, a letter to myself as much as to you. I began my first magazine with a note, and now I enditwithone.Untilwemeetagain.
Allthelove,
an ode to the poet whose heart is broken
“YOU
COULD DIE FROM A BROKEN HEART”
Oh dear poet, you whose grasp of love is but a child’s, laid eyes upon a muse and suddenly, words coursed through your veins for days you yearned, for nights you prayed to the stars to silence the restless butterflies you tried to end your sentences with periods, yet at her feet, they shattered into commas, with unbeknownst courage, your fingers shaped letters that blossomed into words of love,
You expressed it in the way you only knewin metaphors and hyperboles, in poetry and narratives though you knew how the story would turn, that your love would be denied, still, you let the words fly
Like a curse, words of unvarnished truth echoes in your mind, tarnishing your soul yet still you fill the pages, each line bearing the ache of your heart, with a pen that bleeds and weeps unspoken sorrows
Oh dearest poet, it is time to close the chapter. For a love not returned is an ending of a story itself. Rest your daffodils beside bittersweet memories, and let every word fade into the quiet pages of a forlorn history...
DIRCKSEY
a story of connection and lasting memories from ECU Mt. Lawley
Last year, I visited ECU’s Mt Lawley campus for the first time. As a Joondalup student, it had always felt like “the other campus,” a placetogo.ThatchangedwhenIwasinvited to take part as a Buddy Ambassador for the Tokyo City University(TCU)AustraliaProgram(TAP).
The TAP program brings Japanese students to ECU for study abroad, offering them the chance to experience life in Perth while sharing their culture with us. As a Buddy Ambassador, my role was simple: to guide, support, and helpthestudentsfeelathomeinanewcity.
Through a friend, I met one of the students while assisting with buses and grocery shopping. A simple introduction soon turned into a genuine friendship, and everyday tasks became moments of conversation, curiosity and laughter.
Together, we explored Perth—from Fremantle Markets to Scarborough and Cottesloe Beach, and the Perth CBD. What might have been ordinary outings turned into memorable adventures, shaped by cultural exchange and fresh perspectives. Places I thought I knew suddenly felt new again through our shared experiences.
When the program ended, saying goodbye was difficult, but our friendship didn’t stop there. We still keep in touch, sharing updates and memories across the distance. It’s proof that connections made during TAP can last long beyond the program itself.
Looking back, I realise this is what being a Buddy Ambassador is truly about. It’s not just about helping students navigate a city, but about embracing opportunities to connect, learn and form meaningful relationships. Mt Lawley is no longer just “the other campus” to me—it’s the place where an unexpected friendship reshaped how I see the world and the people in it.
JENNIE LYN LIGAMZON
TAP PROGRAM FRIENDS - BUDDIES
ECU Mt. Lawley
the the
What I WISH I KNEW....
Title: Immerse in the Invisible
Material: Red Satin, transparent balloons, silver balloons, video projections,Installation,Durationsvariable. Dimensionvariable. 2025.
Xue Li is a Chinese artist, art historian, and lecturer at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. She holds a master's degree from Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and is currently pursuing a PhD in Visual Arts at Edith Cowan University. Her artistic practice critically engages with feminist theories, reinterpreting Chinese art conventions through the lens of Western feminist strategies while navigating the constraints of contemporary Chinese society.
Exhibited at ECU’s Mount Lawley Campus Open Day 2025, Immerse in the Invisible reflects on the invisibility of Chinese women within domestic and cultural frameworks, particularly inmarriageandfamily.Usingredcloth,transparentballoons, and projected video, the installation explores how women’s presenceissoftened,obscured,andconfined.
Through visual metaphors—dust in sunlight, glimmers on water, invisible labour, gestures of removal, and nameless silhouettes—it evokes how women remain present yet unseen, upholding structures that rarely grant them visibility. Rather than spectacle, the work conveys absence through pressure,proximity,andquietaccumulation.
DirckseyGroove DirckseyGroove
What’sInMyBag?
The Discipline Relentless Growth
If Trees Could Talk
What I wish I knew was if trees could talk, they'd laugh about me.
They must have noticed my worried look as I ran to class, finding my way though buildings all around campus, map crumpled in my bag, as if the walls were built to make me lose myself before I could find my way.
They must have seen how heavy my steps were on nights I stayed too long, windows glowing while the world outside slept.
If trees could talk, they'd remind me that roots take time, that it's alright to bend, to not stand tall right away.
They'd try to speak to me when my mind began to slow down, as I take in the rush from fountain, by the lake, at the heart of the uni.
and I could feel them try to tell me what I couldn't tell myself then: that I was never alone here. that support was stitched into every corner in friends who listened, lecturers who guided, facilities that kept me steady.
What I wish I knew is that all along, the people here were holding me as surely as its trees.
“seewhatthejukebox wantstotellyou”
“seewhatthejukebox wantstotellyou”
Adventure is everywhere, sometimes it starts with simply saying yes.
Wake up. Eat. Shower. Go out for a walk.
Some stories aren’t meant to last forever, but their lessons live on.
Every assignment is a step closer to your goals. keep going, you’ve got this.
Remember, you are enough! just as you are, today.
Between Pages
The library was Ethan's refuge. In the stillness, where the scent of old books lingered and the hum of fluorescent lights felt like a lullaby, he could breathe. He always sat by the tall windows, watching shadows stretch across the courtyard while trying to wrestle meaning from endless paragraphs. One late afternoon, as he struggled with a particularly dense history textbook, a voice broke through his concentration.
"Hey… you're in Professor Hart's class, right?"
Ethan looked up to see Adrian, messy dark hair, curious eyes, and a smile that felt like sunlight sneaking into the quiet. Adrian held the same heavy book Ethan was buried in.
"Yeah… though I'm barely surviving," Ethan admitted, half-laughing.
"Mind if I sit?" Adrian asked. "Maybe we can figure it out together."
And so they began, side by side, sharing notes, whispering jokes between stacks of books, and staying late into the evening. What began as study sessions slowly became something softer, Adrian leaning closer to point out a passage, Ethan's pulse racing at the brush of shoulders, the comforting rhythm of coffee cups and quiet conversation.
Weeks passed, and their friendship became a constant in both their lives. They laughed, supported each other through exams, and shared secrets too small to tell anyone else. Ethan never admitted how much he looked forward to Adrian's presence; Adrian never admitted how much it mattered when Ethan smiled in his direction.
But one afternoon, the quiet broke.
A girl from class approached Ethan while he was reviewing notes, clutching her notebook like a shield. Adrian, arriving just moments later, froze in the aisle of bookshelves as he saw her lean close, cheeks flushed.
"I… I really like you, Ethan."
Ethan blinked, startled. He opened his mouth to respond, but Adrian didn't wait. The sight alone was enough, he turned and left, leaving the library before Ethan could notice.
Days passed, and the chair across from Ethan remained empty. Rain fell softly outside, echoing the emptiness in the library. Unable to bear it, Ethan finally went searching. He found Adrian by the vending machines, shoulders hunched, gaze heavy.
"Adrian," Ethan whispered, "why did you stop coming?"
Adrian shifted uneasily. "I thought… you wouldn't need me anymore."
Ethan frowned. "Need you? You're the only person I wanted to sit with, to laugh with, to wait for every single day."
The words tumbled out unguarded, carrying more truth than Ethan realised. His cheeks burned, but he didn't take them back.
For a long moment, Adrian stayed silent, as if the words were a light he hadn't expected. Then, almost reluctantly, he confessed:
"That day in the library… I saw someone confess to you. I didn't stay to hear what you said. I just… I thought you'd say yes. And I didn't want to get in the way."
Ethan blinked, startled. For a second, his mind flashed back...the soft, quiet words he had whispered in the library, unseen by Adrian: "I'm sorry. I don't feel the same."
He shook his head, stepping closer. "Adrian, I didn't say yes. I said no. Because the truth is… the only person I've been waiting for is you."
Adrian's chest tightened. The rain outside tapped steadily against the glass, but between them, the silence had broken at last.
A smile, fragile but real, curved across Adrian's face. "I can't believe I almost lost this… lost us… because I was too afraid to ask."
Ethan's lips softened into a smile of his own. "Then don't be afraid anymore."
The space between them melted away, and in the quiet glow of the corridor, just as in the library where it all began, something unspoken finally took form, tender and infinite.
the presence of a woman in a bikini. Neither off stage, but no one would dare call them change in the wings, Burt, in a gay rage, random from the stage crew. The dressing lacy underwear and force her on stage. and the new assistant, Jane, are placed trick. Burt hits on the assistant inside the the closet with long metal swords. Yes, closet with a scantily clad woman and closet for a paying audience. This is in pure unadulterated queerness of the scene, of it, is what encouraged me to write this.
the (in my opinion) much more perhaps the filmmakers didn’t movie. I highly recommend it.
BUCKET BUCKET LIST LIST 2025 2025
Take a morning swim at the beach!
Go on an impulsive drive/trip!
Watch the sunrise/ sunset after school/ work/ exams
