Written 6 April 2013 between Chris Lynch, Graham Nunn, John Wainwright, Cindy Keong, Fern Thompsett, Andrew Phillips, Chloë Callistemon, Lee-Anne Davie, John Koenig, Rachael Briggs, and a.rawlings.
autumn moon
in the balcony pot
gold fish
no bloom on the plant
I love
she runs with her
girl in dewy grass
wearing only spring frocks
moonlight inches
up her thigh
grey mangroves
I have salt
between my teeth
shoots push upwards
a skeleton in reverse
from the centre
of the rotted-out boab
I see sky
no longer blue
in this blossom-loosening wind
sepia light
he sits under
luminous horns
named for two popes
an austere theologian broods
his thoughts crackle, inaudible
but for the drop of leaves, or
turning pages
ruminating, he scratches his chin
chomps another cracker
in a circle
a quorum of poets
empty teapot
mic spit
the singer’s rage
she swallows
and the kaleidoscope
blinks silently
illuminated she wears
rose-coloured glasses
melodious, Delores swears rose-thorn
accusations, her mouth a square, her
wit cut and quick
heavy metal cello
vibrations of an old friend’s voice
power lines crackle
you press handprints
into reflected clouds
bones left
to whiten in the sun
a magpie picks
at all
that remains
winter frost
the sting on bare feet
the sound of cracking
so far underground
fresher than the feel of remembering
where glow worms predict next
season’s ornitheology
in the chapel
of your wild garden
lighting torches
stained glass
all the colours of the rainbow
echoing around the
whispering gallery of St Paul’s
“Fuck you, Mr Hitler”
golden light
stirring sugar into tea
asks for her hand
the gentle breeze
slams a door
I can’t find the whip bird
in my apartment
heat wave
colouring inside
the lines
dying light
only a few circled in the lounge
a square window
frames the first crayon smudges
of a toddler’s new day
dissolve the corners of rooms
scratching towards a view
an empty room
grows emptier
at dawn
the sky shines silver
in the west, colourful in the east
