a sea named after you

Are all mornings mother of pearl beside the Coral Sea?
All mornings are mother of pearl beside the Coral Sea.
Mother of pearl morning beside the Coral Sea.


on a salted breeze

smell of toast about to burn
sunrise remains
a thin line of silver
wet horizon
sealed shut with cloud
expectant surfers look out
for a barrel in the break


"You are beside a sea named after you."
texts my Mother.

untitled

grass traces circles
dune crests flick quiffs
desert wind

in morning cold air
long shadows blur
the butcher bird hunts

young crows tend graves
pluck red silk petals
drop them into the breeze

under the jam wattle
a puff of lavender butterflies
flit over iron stone

scent

threat bursts becomes action
wet fists pound iron roofs
sun scorched dust
and cloud cold rain
mash in a splash

when elements collide
I wait for the scent to rise

spring day

spring day buds popped
blossom swung under blue sky
compliments of the sun

untitled

beneath the flowering gum
rain is sweet

nine twenty

by the ticking clock
which is either
too slow
or
too fast
never tocks the
middle path

Grey Nomads

He navigates
a fast escape
from aged homes
open mouthed drool

Slumped asleep
front seat
glasshoused heat
she dreams of everlastings

tweetku too

hung clouds

dead washing

silent phone

vacant letter box

inbox spam

nowhere stare

room echo

drawn blind

no calls

no answers

voice laid off

tweetku

in the night garden

solar lights glow blue

spots of moonlight

courtesy of the sun

untitled

as rain clouds roll in
dry washing struggles
against the pegs

untitled

after rain

overhanging trees drip circles

into pooled water

cloak loops

First light

The cemetery gatekeeper unlocks,
AC/DC blares from his car stereo -
waking the dead.

it seems as if i

txt

she has ppl :) 
cannot talk
i have lnlnss :(
and need to

heard

drone

as desert course is mown

startle

in pigeons wing

babblers

on lower branches

silence 

crouched with the cat

untitled

mid afternoon
ants shadows stretch

for di

now

all

i

can

do

is

write

haiku

for

you

trees catch clouds

in high branches - make their own rainstorms

morning fog

late afternoon

sun behind a broken cloud

shadow creep stops

page turns blue

dog barks

a bin is wheeled in

neighbors

car door slams

mother goes to school

birds sing the dimensions of triangles

plated and served
my forked heart
a four pronged attack

again maybe

it seems as if i

then again maybe

because when why

too big the open

marshland or drained

pinch quickly soured

senses a soupcon

whoever ghost clothed

latch bolt and key

no gel in infirmary

rabid the wild fire

unopened cucoons lie

love chest liability

insanity keepsake

transitions and labels

whatever first came

when then and why fore

it seems as if i

then again maybe

untitled

woman's voice
strung tensile
a child's wail
conduit
mudlark's wings
two kinds of beatings

linen and lace

bobbin pricked blood 
threads through bunched lace
filigrees the naked throat
weavers sweat
damps the weft and warp
covers memory of shame

FIFO

Again

I see , unmoved

your boots.

Each one filled with

wind and nests of leaves.

Captured in webs

anchored to the step

empty days frayed stitches.

Death by loneliness

a slow process

kiss me out of my misery soon.

*GREEN

*GREEN

almost * arrogant * ascending to heaven * attack of * bamboo * big * blow fly * blue * bold * bright * bud * bunch of * cabbage * carnivorous * challenging * dead * deep * dinosaur * dove neck * eye * extravagant * faintly * fatal * alive * fig tree * fingernail polish * flamboyant * flat * garden * glossy * goddess * grape * grape vine tip * grass * greedy * green green green * green bellied parrot * grows the lilac * greenie * green stone * grow * growth * hammock * happy * hardly * hippy * honest * hospital * hydrangea * jealous * jubilant * jungle * knockabout * lawn * leaf * lemon * lime * living * lizard * lots of * love * love you * magic * mango * mint * mossy * mysterious * native * oak leaf * olive * over run * overpowering * passionate * pea * perverse * phlegm * pond * pool * prison * quick growing * ravishing * really * savage * shallow * shit * shocking * sickly * summer sky * smothering * snot * so * soft * stag horn * spinach * spring * sprout * stinky * envious * sulky * summer * super * superfluous * surly * surprise * swamp reed * the greens * thin * thistle * thyme * tomato * too much * tooth * traffic light * true * undergrowth * unlucky * USD * valiant * valley * victorious * vigorous * vital * wanton * weed * weed free * wisteria * wistful * yellow *zany* zealous*

eclipsed

three or thereabouts
dreams cast to jetsam
 the night a blood tide
seeped over the moon's face
heart stopped
like that
sudden
rain clouds washed all away
left nothing between my ribs

untitled

june rain
plink plonks in the drain pipe
honkey tonk

haruspex

two crows
divine
intestines
roadside

untitled

june - days of rain
when the sun cracks clouds
a bird tumble bathes in gum tips

untitled

seven empty chairs    companions
wind turns my page
inside the radio
talks to itself

in the garden

black shapes
swoop
the fence line
blood
feathers
torn skull -
baby eating season

a culinary affaire

be still my toasted roasted
milled grilled
sliced spiced
boiled roiled
poached broached
be still my beaten eaten heart

untitled

late afternoon light
shadow of a dove crosses
the closed venetians

child scream time

crow in the north

palm holds

a busy bee

love in

honey fest

wild bees

tree bark trunk

split

honey cave hum

the sudden flock

the sudden flock rose

spanned wings

a Japanese print

flung across

straight stretched road

one missed the updraft

became a bloodless thud

washed away in the wake

looked back saw

splayed wings

at never fly again angles

feathered body on a roll

down the highway

glued to glass

one grey feather

and a smudge

came home with me

after ph

rothko 

painted

desert

stones

heard early

a butcher birds praise
of unfledged flesh
slits open the day

in the place where i am

horizons coil into my blood

creek beds hide water

black stones hold

memories of fire
dust records

out here

in the place where i am

bones fray

bronze wing

She is finished she said

her luck over and out

wrap me up in my blanket

bury me deep down
where the dingoes and crows wont
where the dingoes and crows wont
where the dingoes and crows wont

if only I was

if only I could

if only
I had the flight of a bronze wing

I put down the phone

find the instruction book
blank

travelling east

before us
the stars climb
behind
the moon falls

untitled

in my socks
i clicked the sunrise
and
squeezed it in a box

Letter to Di

Birds sing.

Dog barks.

Flies

arrive

depart.

Bottle brush red

splashes

in the pool.

Sun love bites

my neck -

tea bags sink

wrecked

in a milky sea.

I lie

naked

sun soaked.

Dog sings the blues.

Invisible neighbour

whistles

creaks his shed

rust roof

green door.

Plays Triple J.

cabbage moths cross flight paths

an ant spell checks my page

the washing machine insists

no time to play

Sky colour -

Uplift Me Blue.

Outside.

Today.

untitled

first light
honey eaters chorale
nectar sweet

untitled

babblers in lower branches
silence of the cat

grin and bear it?

Is 3.30pm a time to give your self a treat?

Make peace not war?

Check the water level in the bird bath?

Begin to anticipate the clock strike four?

Crack a nut?

Eat a kernel?

Try not to cry?

Remember to be grateful, mindful, full, full, full?

Put the hammer away and fill the kettle?

Watch shadows slip?

Be the stillness of the watering can

plastic green bin

discarded shoes

and a sock?

Is it time to put your head in your hand,

four fingers curved

into your bottom lip?

Let extremities fold inwards?

Origami?

To concentrate on the hand that writes not types?

Link with ink?

Not pick at scabs or lick the wound?

Is 3.55

the time to listen to roof heat tick,

watch the frangipanni fall -

grin and bear it?

Here Again

I am here again

at the back table

the back table

I built and oiled

on early mornings

to avoid

the eye sizzling heat of noon.

Here again.

Bemoaning.

Being and moaning -

to myself

to the page

to the world

that my handwriting

like me

deteriorates

before my eyes,

my eyes

deteriorate

before my brain

my brain

deteriorates

within my body

which deteriorates

and on

and on

and on

when a mudlark/ piping shrike/peewee

unaware of deterioration /decay/time

oblivious of my thoughts/ feelings/self pity

careless of the cold east wind setting the scene for autumn

took a bird bath

spun globes of water like planets and suns into the air

made rainbows with the morning

and ruffled feathers blurred the black and white.

disqualified!

Vermin

untitled

beneath the night roost
a Jackson Pollock

number one

wings fall      off
when you are number one hit
on the reject list
fruit rots
leaves burn
thumbs down
face lost
hearts fold
song jams
last notes
eaten by ants
tiny bit
by
tiny bit
by
tiny bit

no miracle

although
he kissed
both eyes
the blight
remains

after

years of nights
his skin
has grown
as familiar as my own

years of sleep
i inhabit his dreams
but I dream
alone

no title

i cant squeeze
out another word
the tube is empty

what have you done?

each word
sealed
boxed
hard cornered
thrust
into the softness of doing

Poetry with...

Poetry with nice cups of tea,

poetry with spring daffodills,

poetry with lace,

poetry with infidelity,

poetry with attitude,

poetry with street cred,

poetry with companion planting,

poetry with meat and three vege,

poetry with porcelain collections,

poetry with buckets of shit,

poetry with amore,

poetry with dread,

poetry with gravel,

poetry with cyanide,

poetry with big stabbing knives behind my back,

poetry with epiphany,

poetry with dead dogs,

poetry with explosions,

poetry with sin,

poetry with societal ills,

poetry with cunts

(now there’s a thought)

and of course

poetry in the name of the father,

the holy trinity,

poetry with beer, drugs and pills.

fly

fly

on my leg

iron oxide eyes

ringed gold

legs sharp pencil lines

wings see thru clean thru

veined grey

thorax suit striped

i sigh

it flies

that’s what flies do

fly

harbour wave

among the dead

the newborn squall

how did

how did
the game
of get the guest
conclude?
whose heart was eaten?
whose heart was bruised?

longiflora

my mouth
covers you
i suck
nectar and ants

the only thing

the only thing
we do together
is read
i take
the book
and crack
the spine

read all about it

the fan cools
tears slide
warm
to ice
the tongue cut
serrated blade
against flesh
torn more
than sliced
the daily news
for your consideration

Five Hundred Words: All of Them Shit

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kiss

receive the kiss
kiss which heals
kiss which blinds

one for the heart

surgery for the untrained
chapter one
open heart
pass the healing hands
kneeling pad
crucifix
remove the barb
kiss the blood
expose the wound
soothe the burn
warm the cockles
melt the ice
seal the break
fill the cracks
strike a match
set the fire
light the light
in the name
pass the flame
pass the flame
pass the holy flame