#2444 -- wake in a strange house

 

2444

7.251

10.ix.26

wake in a strange house

 

empty, they’re out

this was someone’s childhood

 

I have to wish a way home

 

and come down the stairs and more

 

don’t notice when clothes first appear

 

tiptoe, hush, just in case

but the voices are far

 

is the door alarmed to get out?

 

in the front yard, near naked boys wrestling

not mine, not mud, more Eton Wall

it’s Mosman … I see that now

 

the mothers and the sisters scold invisible

 

begin where nothing’s remembered

 

the storm water, the green grass bamboo

solid flimsy

 

and struggle through

at the mailbox at the gate

I cannot see the American flag

my sarong admired for cotton, for batik

chit chat kills the time

 

a name is all there is to connect

a dead name

will I tell? but no

 

look back

how many storeys is hard to tell

but this is polite conversation

must go, wish on

 

on foot, I’m a way

I’m a long way to go

 

streets and anonymous

to make a start

 

it looks like the place you know

but it’s not

 

no wallet, no fare, will I beg for coins?

 

I’m not there

when I get there

 

he has brought the honey

kindly though I never asked

is patient for his cash

I go through pockets as deep as the day

consider I might be a ghost

 

there’s nothing to recognize

steps up to a cupboard

I know what’s in

 

dismiss the many doubts

hand coloured

 

who’ll notice?

 

will this have been the season you left?

 

water’s still cold from the tap

 

this was all in extra time

 

I only remember the tune