2257
7.64
6.iii.26
the
snake
turned out to be just
another creature
frog in throat, lice mauled
eking out like the rest
quite unaware of symbolic value
nothing at all like the book
had said
that was a pack of lies, unhelpful
it was only after we’d had
the head off
fought to the finish
we discovered this
2256
7.63
5.iii.26
a
shared stillness
treaty now!
first thing in the morning
no words to say
and are we faster than a
fire?
who set?
scrubby in the grey
all weather above
I try to do the ears
I fail
60,000 years of fear
is how we hop away
2255
7.62
4.iii.26
ambivalence
Tweedledee and Tweddledumber
one tyrant is dead
hip hip
the other tyrants still
survive
one tyrant killed the other
aren’t they just as bad?
how will we measure?
an us of them
a them of us
ding dong
other tyrants watch on
will you mourn yours?
and the bomb that did it
miss?
falls on the school
all the schoolgirls die
that was the terror
headquarters
must have been
we say so
you can trust them
tomorrow it’s a hospital
everyone’s my enemy
every tyrant knows
manners of a monster
he was a nice old man
ordered the executions
avuncular up close
look at the list of what
they defend –
freedom and a way of life
us from them
and they do too
don’t we need a strongman?
a tyrant has so many bombs
and guns and drones and
songs
and bodies at disposal
one tyrant is dead
hip hip
ding dong
the other’s just as bad
as old as tired as narrow
all the world’s watching
don’t you know?
heigh ho!
one tyrant’s a terrorist
the other’s just dropping
bomb
let’s see where they land
oh that was a hit
and that was a miss
the orphanage, the cabinet
room
the mosque, the church, the
temple
why can’t we get all the tyrants
together?
have them slog it out in a
padded cell
make it a spectator sport?
we could thumbs down them
all
get the emperor feeling
what would that make us
then?
no, but we’d make sure they
don’t hurt each other
take them back to their
rooms in the home
give them the pill
how it’s all a bad dream
how the world’s a bad dream
ding dong
hip hip
how tyranny reigns
why can’t we sleep it all
off?
2254
7.61
3.iii.26
at the
furry carwash
ekphrastic for Kathy Temin’s
‘My Monument: Black Garden’
no comb, no brush
at rest, benign
weave a circle round
patch light inside
there looks to be a way in
out
it menaces
touch so it begins
you’re drawn
you’ll sink inside
these walls close in
a slip
and you’ll be gone
\
2253
7.60
2.iii.26
as far
as the eye can see
ekphrastic for Grayson Perry’s
‘Animal Spirit’
to market to market
these are the words
serious reasonable rational wise
prudent sensible fair
bear’s balls and bull’s
horns
tongue out between teeth
common sense important
hanged from a bare branch
before the endless oilfields
objective logical
you won’t even see how a
planet burns
with manger child
and fern crack rise
armoured like a clock
rapacious
sky’s comet struck
all this climbing
now just here
splat
2252
7.59
1.iii.26
sometimes a trail
ekphrastic for Rover Thomas’ 1984 ‘Country called Red
Butte
sometimes a trail’s
perimeter
could be sand inside
might have blown here
could be where fence
will be
could blur
as sun comes blinding
night in our presence
then
sometimes rain frames
or fork off here
see mountain side on
there’s thirst
the boundary blows
down
you won’t see
moongleam
all sorts won’t
we’re made of stone
we’re travelling
sometimes
how do we go?
great stretches
whiff of invisible
prints
you’ll see back to
where you’re from
a gust of years
reshapes
the journey home
we’re on the trail
we’re following
it’s after life
all this
2251
7.58
28.ii.26
come out into the sun
assertions of presence
haiku/ senryu set for the Gore Cove Track Series
come out into the sun
lizard hunting
I can’t see you
either
dragonflight
leaf breeze twirling
the singing high up
goes unseen
mangrove tide wading
noon still, plash
city hum behind
in the remnants of
the fire
a flower
this was long ago
in all the broad
harbour
world washing up
look down and you’ll
see the sky
rhythm of words
feet follow
so we go
walk faster than the
sun
to keep my skin
plain white
pause to catch a
breath uphill
one line down
go on
the leaf blower
‘enough bloody noise
pollution’
I yell at the top of
my lungs
there isn’t a track
I have no camera
wilds are away in me
step after step
after step after step
not even nearly gone
