Engulfed:
by bliss and peace and beauty;
I lose my faculty of reason
and crumble into a cliche pulp-mill.
What I can say is nothing new
and yet the feeling of moment
of sudden flawless concatenation of circumstance
drives me to strive to show it;
but the subtle shadowplay,
of the scents the air the light:
I haven’t any words
that are not pre-chewed and a [...]
half a bottle down and the mysteries of the world
are smoothed over; we untangle and unkink:
you stretch backwards in your chair,
arms above, wings triumphant.
laughter and words run
soup-thick and fragrant
as jasmine rice.
we have found the worthy,
we have found the stupid, the cruel,
and know how to avoid them.
stare at the clouds until
your neck hurts and then nudge the earth
with the toe of your shoe
and do not step on bugs that wriggle
across the pavement — they are epic heroes.
when the air is wine go into it
fully, soul-skinny-dipping
and feel corpuscles dancing.
when muscari appear in the crooks of roots
and mushrooms bubble out from loam
nod [...]
My lust for the year sated, I thought,
Dulled by the excess of winter nights
and frosted dawns. My appetite
waned and I, drowsy and bored,
wearied of the year’s continuation.
Until I stumble upon a spring:
I stub my toe upon a spring:
I discover an unexpected spring:
it gushes, flushes, rushes at me;
foam washes over ankles and feet
and wakes me, stirs [...]
Running on tearing dry footpaths
and through the house
in a herd of cousins,
feet cut on drought-dry grass
and bindii patches,
Into the scrub up back.
Between the splintery back fences of the suburb,
Big bad dogs in that yard,
Don’t go too close to that one
(he’ll throw stuff at us
and tell Mum we were trespassing).
Look out for [...]
Twisted up and a little soggy,
I start to feel too cramped and caged.
The door splits,
Spilling sunlight,
I uncoil and turn unsteady eyes to the glare.
I push against the gap,
Gentle, gentle, don’t go too fast,
The door smoothly swings,
Gentle, gentle, not too fast.
I’m sticky and hopeful,
Porcelain fine and baffled;
Gentle, gentle, don’t go too fast,
The drying light, the wind,
The [...]
With some confusion, I asked again,
`But what makes your feelings real?’
She gestured vaguely, a sandwich in hand,
`One doesn’t know: one feels.’
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes,
I asked her to make herself more clear,
But immediately regretted it
As she obviously held [...]
Three black birds
and one white — I lay
exhausted and flattened
on the grass
— three black birds
and one white;
no wing beat;
only for a second —
and I stamped
clumsy rubber meaning,
optimistic mysticism:
three — a trinity, a triad, a triptych;
(what about the white one following,
what could the white one following mean)
I lay exhausted and flattened
on the grass
and read between the [...]
(1)
Slashed and gashed,
and rawly torn,
grief’s sirocco burns.
(2)
The dust is settled thick;
Chokes up the books and coats
that don’t get used
and slide from weary fingers.
Wine to cook with; an
early start but who’s counting;
she’s chatty with The 7:30 Report,
talking with her mouth full
and dozing after.
The hollow house sealed:
she’s a coin in an empty Milo tin.
(3)
A half-turn of [...]
I could hear my mother’s chorus of one;
if it’s chipped you could slit a lip.
For you, the wine
splashes
against my slit lip
and only heals
what could have stung.
