at all (a living)

it is for . . . living it is for livingdon’t you know is thatwhat you are doing is it reallyliving I have wokensometimesin the morningwith my head fullof thoughtsand plans worriesand concerns and I have wokensometimeswith my head filledwith bleariness for the sakeof workand obligation so many different kindsof obligation andI have donethose thingsthat …

Ich Liebe Dich

ich liebe dich my uncle stopped his lady in the middle of Melbourne turned her around till they were standing with their faces close and held her he just said it in a quiet voice and with a soft look so she knew he meant it and there was a smile creasing the corners of …

on the subject (of a feather)

like a cloud fluff don't breathe too hard or I might fly away no more needed than black to reach perfection or maybe black with white what do you think? from the pristine ... to the draggled so bedraggled me by the rough and tumble sweetness of a life blow blow blow me away I …

earth movements

she is invisible somewhere below a horizon of pillow against wall not even the shape of breathing moves a topography of blankets ambiguously contoured to disguise the shifting ridge that is my arm buried beneath the covers I can locate the beating heart and chart inspiration by touch form subterranean connections between hand and skin …

everyday changing

every day I’m growing simpler I guess that getting older has a price I can’t move so fast and I can’t hold everything that’s swirling around me but I’m ok as a simple man it doesn’t mean that I've turned stupid it doesn’t mean I’m losing control or winding down it just means my heart …

learning to play

there is news from the absent one who’s battling with a phone box to say hello with three dollars in the slot that won’t go down when the telephone’s persuaded it’s like a gap of years of ages sweeps away and she’s there again a voice at distance not a fantasy or the lost memory …

shadows leaping

I am shying at shadows think it's only a state of mind but I see things move from the corner of my eye as though something someone is in the room beside me though I know too well I am alone ~ it is quiet there is only the sound of one man breathing sometimes …

approximately perfect

the whale is doing circles in the corner of the lounge where the plankton swirl a frenzy displaces my mother from her photograph and the swallow tails out through a window I forgot to close is there any more coffee left pass two hens over would you like to dunk one too it’s late I …

Dressing A Little Funny

arvi is coming along the footpath he looks the type to pass right by without a word but that's not really true he's a theodolite or some kind of sect like that and he's not allowed to meet my eyes or say hello and even one more christian feast is not enough to make him …

hush

hush a little there’s a moth banging on the window hush a little is that rain tumbling on the rooftop and hush a little can you hear a cup of tea is calling hush the night is quiet it’s peaceful in my bed © Frank Prem, 2015