damascus in a heatwave

I was going to take a walk then I thought maybe a book somehow I find I'm here instead it's hard to settle down there's nothing that appeals I squirm to avoid oppression and the indecisive day goes by blistering whatever risks exposure until a darkened room is all that’s left a darkened room and …

re-finishing

my father is re-fixing his kitchen chairs adding a second layer of foam underneath the straps that the furniture guy put in already he has re-laid the new pavers and re-aligned a recently added patio fence now he is re-upholstering the re-upholstered it's not he says that he is too fussy no it's just that …

Saltless Autumn

I miss the sands of summer that yield to the probing of feet digging into an anchorage against the movement of blue water clear enough to see the golden embrace salt tasting my lips I stood in the wash of rising tides felt the cool lick at my skin upon my face the release of …

above the alps

someday I will write these ranges I am flying above it is a day of sun the sharp-edged slopes are dirty green in its dying angular shapes lengthened in shadow the unrolling loneliness of ridge after covered ridge is broken by the anachronistic symmetry that is the straightness of roads carved through the forest wilderness …

love song of a mad moth

you make me crazy my eyes shine with a light like hallucination I feel you entered inside me shiver my abdomen I cling to the cold pane that separates us I will climb the clear mountain walls up down shake my wings to attract your gaze I want to be with you I want to …

Dangerous Decor

there's a TV against a wall a sound box perching up on top when I look around I see the dregs of recent days curling up in each stray corner my table is invisible beneath paper and the futon wears those clothes of mine that are waiting for an ironing when the cleaner comes on …

MCG (Black and White and Blues)

I can feel it with my hand on a wall the MCG alive with rumbled dull thunder vibrating through acres of concrete and brick the first twenty thousand to gather are trembling the foundations of this coliseum we are early but the filling of the tiers has begun the reserve teams are the dew-kickers out …

un-bounded

he fell asleep in his armchair in the lounge room before the fire chill winter began outside on his doorstep then rolled out in low hung grey as far as the trees and hills that stood sentinel on the boundaries in the distance within his own four walls he slept when he opened his eyes …

the journey

then suddenly a wall of fire rose separating the path ahead from the roadmap etched inside their minds one moment was the time it took plans cherished month on month gone and now the path runs sideways up with hills to climb ~ alone inside where each one dwells what thoughts arise one moment air …

fetching the firewood

all through the sogginess of winter with the water high above my heels I carted the rounds of sliced timber knotted rotten or smooth I moved them load upon load once into the barrow once into the cart once more into the barrow then last into a pile a bloody great big pile of a …