trying to climb a ladder to heaven,
trying to juggle sacks of money and his heart,
the selves they cannot learn or flee,
the time between kisses growing longer,
the time between lies growing shorter.
from their children’s foreheads
with shreds of the Mexican flag,
others trying to catch every drop in soup bowls.
California, New York City, Mexico,
each sampled woman, grain and fruit,
king of gluttony, seated at table,
as a skeleton waiter whisks away
Third collection. Contains poems set in Paris, Dunkerque, Sarajevo, Transylvania, Uzbekistan, Russia, outback Australia and the Melbourne suburbs of St.Kilda and Richmond. Contains autobiographical and philosophical poems, poem about Freya Stark, poem about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. $22 post-free within Australia.
Second collection. Includes poems set in Rome, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Egypt, Sudan and outback Australia. Also contains ultra-short poems. $15 post-free within Australia.
7 a.m.
Beyond the bedpost
no mirage of glad husband
moving tall towards me with his English offer
of toast and marmalade,
a cup of tea.
He’s with another.
She has mongrel blood,
a Knightsbridge accent,
can turn a man into
a spinning top,
an arsonist in the house of marriage.
One day she’ll become
a book that my husband
has tired of reading.
I’ll go soon, far from
Massachusetts, Devon, London,
the zoo where my selves are caged,
venomous snake,
sacrificial lamb,
sleepless monkey examining its fleas.
Outside snowflakes fall,
drafts of a poem torn to bits.
In the night sky
I see the Zoo-keeper.
From his starlit belt
important keys hang.
He moves towards me,
I towards him.
We’ll embrace
where it’s black.
The river is brown-hued, wide.
In its shallows small black fish appear,
hyphens of life,
pleasing barefoot children.
The river is pelican-ushered to the sea.
The beach curves south to a crop of hills
where a white lighthouse stands,
its spiralling stairs now climbed
by camera-burdened tourists.
In the sky, there’s a small plane, silver-bellied,
gone when you turned
to a Ruth Rendell paperback.
This coastline asks you to name yourself,
fisherman, beachcomber, surfer, retiree,
to examine whether you’re more than that.
eases from rock to sky,
becomes a speck and miracle
to a small boy, a sandcastle lord,
standing sandy-kneed, squinting.
The wind, the waves, play their games of give and take,
the horizon searches its deep pockets
for the makings of tomorrow’s weather.
Winner of the Victorian Premiers Award. Represents first 11 years of poetry. Poems set in Melbourne, Berlin and Cairo. Contains Charles Bukowski, Billie Holiday and Janet Frame homage poems. $15 post free within Australia
