2261
7.68
10.iii.26
a pond
upon reflection
bliss mistedly
birds whip as well
sunshower then
trudge gum to
drip
valley all wallaby
kookaburra for a laugh
I, in just a moment
naked as all this
2261
7.68
10.iii.26
a pond
upon reflection
bliss mistedly
birds whip as well
sunshower then
trudge gum to
drip
valley all wallaby
kookaburra for a laugh
I, in just a moment
naked as all this
2260
7.67
9.iii.26
none
of this belongs to me
after wrestling with the
translation of Andy Kissane’s ‘Alone again’
seas and trees and stars and
soil
none of this belongs to me
but a car does and my house
is timber
the wind and the rain – are
little creatures
moving the leaves, catching
light
turning to face and away
none of this belongs to me
the body is capable
place is always a matter of
style
belonging, a part and apart
perhaps that’s too abstract
for you
light swims over a surface
shade moves the leaves,
catching
that’s just where I’m from
seas and trees and stars and
soil
my turn next and not long
now
none of this belongs to me
when a difficult question is
asked
I commit to not vanishing in
a puff of smoke
run up a tree to the yonder
blue
when I am nothing at all
(as good as having not been)
and nowhere
don’t we belong to the
forest?
aren’t we a part of the sea?
no I to say then
nor having been to mean
the body capable till
a suitcase full of on my way
wheels to uninvent
flight downed
seas and trees and stars and
soil
each of us singing
each a song
the question then –
will I have belonged?
2259
7.66
8.iii.26
even
more haiku
the creek bed
dry leaves
all of us waiting around
duck oblivious
a moon sails on
one morsel and a next
a cat
and it must be the neighbour’s
I fear for the water dragon
2258
7.65
7.iii.26
some
new haiku and senryu
the mud ducks
their take off
a glitter in the sun
on a day I’m not here
the sky tracks on
tree grows in all directions
‘running loose below’
old intrepid, back from the
tropics
communes with the great
white phone
days off
where’s the goanna?
all of these colours, bark
hiding
ding dong, hip hop
a tyrant’s dead, another
reigns
fooled again, again
the blood moon
see the old man vanish
a rabbit from out of the hat
as far down as the tree
grows
a song and a dance
old days buried down there
(found senryu)
in Wayne County, Michigan
the first centre line in the
world
was inspired by a leaking
milk wagon
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?