Platinum Wig
For Avicii
I wish I had the confidence of Lureen Twist
peroxide and cigarettes fresh manicure—
she gives the world a stoic go fuck yourself
through a blow of Marlboro red bathes naked in
whiskey springs that burn through wild rag doll limbs
4AM at another dive bar she’ll never stop
driving
If I was Lureen Twist and
wore a platinum wig
maybe I’d be famous in
the rodeo stands or along the
streets of Adelaide where instead of
dreaming
with shadows for friends I’d be
surrounded by warm bodies so sharp
as a shot of tequila stabbing common sense
Do you know I’ve always liked that song ‘Levels’
by Avicii because it sounds like joy or—
a roller-coaster but then I read Avicii
means hell in Buddhism and remember that the DJ
with the platinum hair left his soul behind
for the morning star praying for safe arrival
I don’t know why he killed himself—because he had
everything—a Netflix documentary said he never lived
to his potential that the weight of the world killed him
that youth would forever pay the price
Life's a game made for everyone and death is the prize
If you can’t fix it—you gotta stand it someone said
Lureen hides her sadness
under a platinum wig and old farm money
and the portable TV at dinnertime
And I leave mine on the morning tram alongside
my ego disintegrated after another
poignant rejection if my words will never be important
or as
forgettable as the Kaua’i O’o bird’s last song
I will put on the platinum wig sexy crash helmet
and wait to be swept away with city debris
As Lureen standing in the phone booth voice
sweet as cherry pie poker face frozen with grief or God’s indifference
to Avicii’s final prayer
she teases her hair and gets on with it the great pretender in alligator boots
who hides behind the mane of secrets
of bleach and telemarketer bravado
♪♫ ♫♬ ♪♫ ♪♫ ♪♪♫ ♪♫♬ ♪♫♪
Olivia De Zilva is a writer based in Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide). Her novel Plastic Budgie was released in July 2025 by Pink Shorts Press. Her novella Eggshell was released by Spineless Wonders in November 2025. Her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in The Guardian, SBS, Australian Poetry Journal, Mascara Literary Review and many other publications. Olivia's writing has been shortlisted by the Richell Prize, The Kat Muscat Fellowship, The Deborah Cass award and recently, was the inaugural winner of the AAWP Novella Prize.
I wish I had the confidence of Lureen Twist
peroxide and cigarettes fresh manicure—
she gives the world a stoic go fuck yourself
through a blow of Marlboro red bathes naked in
whiskey springs that burn through wild rag doll limbs
4AM at another dive bar she’ll never stop
driving
If I was Lureen Twist and
wore a platinum wig
maybe I’d be famous in
the rodeo stands or along the
streets of Adelaide where instead of
dreaming
with shadows for friends I’d be
surrounded by warm bodies so sharp
as a shot of tequila stabbing common sense
Do you know I’ve always liked that song ‘Levels’
by Avicii because it sounds like joy or—
a roller-coaster but then I read Avicii
means hell in Buddhism and remember that the DJ
with the platinum hair left his soul behind
for the morning star praying for safe arrival
I don’t know why he killed himself—because he had
everything—a Netflix documentary said he never lived
to his potential that the weight of the world killed him
that youth would forever pay the price
Life's a game made for everyone and death is the prize
If you can’t fix it—you gotta stand it someone said
Lureen hides her sadness
under a platinum wig and old farm money
and the portable TV at dinnertime
And I leave mine on the morning tram alongside
my ego disintegrated after another
poignant rejection if my words will never be important
or as
forgettable as the Kaua’i O’o bird’s last song
I will put on the platinum wig sexy crash helmet
and wait to be swept away with city debris
As Lureen standing in the phone booth voice
sweet as cherry pie poker face frozen with grief or God’s indifference
to Avicii’s final prayer
she teases her hair and gets on with it the great pretender in alligator boots
who hides behind the mane of secrets
of bleach and telemarketer bravado
Olivia De Zilva is a writer based in Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide). Her novel Plastic Budgie was released in July 2025 by Pink Shorts Press. Her novella Eggshell was released by Spineless Wonders in November 2025. Her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in The Guardian, SBS, Australian Poetry Journal, Mascara Literary Review and many other publications. Olivia's writing has been shortlisted by the Richell Prize, The Kat Muscat Fellowship, The Deborah Cass award and recently, was the inaugural winner of the AAWP Novella Prize.