#17 Scrabble Dictionary

Jostled into the parquet corner
Of your dreams of an uxorial woman
I razored my itchy heart
Unjointed myself from our tryst
You never gave an iota
For my quixotry or my dreams
Insisted the syzygy hadn't yet blessed us

#16 Almanac

Cold and clear
Glory vine
Library
Morning tea
Magpies
Repeated name calling
Blue feather
Citrus
Sugar skulls
Mr. Twining
Taxes
Gender dubious
Movieland Sundays
Wong
Collected leaves
Bishop loses seat
Little children singing
Cockatrice
Where the wild things are
Speakeasy
Helicopters
Drowning
River Torrens at sunset

#15 Doubles

Humans are meant to come in pairs
We're meant to couple up
But it never worked like that for me
I'm no-one's other half
I'm no-one's  better half
I'm no-one's soulmate
And I'm not considered wife material

I'm considered fuck buddy material
One night stand material
Dirty little secret material
Just some chick I met once material

Humans are meant to come in pairs
We're meant to couple up
But it never worked like that for me
I'm no-one's other half
I'm no-one's better half
I'm no-one's soulmate
And I'm not considered wife material

I'm considered too smart for you material
Intimidating, independent material
Feminist boner killer material
Maybe she's a lesbian material

And that's okay by me
I'm a lone vixen
And your opinion is immaterial

#14 Small World

We tell each other it's a small world, here
In our little town

I traded it in for the east coast once
My little town

I came back because I couldn't breathe
I need the Adelaide air

I need Rundle Street in April
When the tourists have deserted

I need the hidden coffee shops
The punk bands and the poets

I need my mates on every corner
The two degrees of separation

Freaks and suits share the sunlight, here
In our little town




 

#13 Fortune Cookies

Others see you as a wise person
Your efforts will be worthwhile

One look is worth ten thousand words
Every excess becomes a vice

You will soon be crossing the great waters
True love is only found in the heart

#12 Index

Felling(s), 2, 3, 13, 20, 82
conveyance of, 20, 55, 60, 63, 67, 85, 94
encouragement of, 92
fears in, 20
identification of, 5
sensitivity to, 64
unresolved, surfacing of, 95
see also Emotion

#11 Abstract Closing

Straight lines
Glossy white
Smooth to the eye

Centuries witnessed
Stoic arches
Measured ratios

Librarians are a rare breed

#10 Book Spines

Little birds
Delta of venus
Story of O
The little green grammar book
The little red writing book
Wyrd sisters
Truckers
Life's too f*#$ing short

#9 Bravery

Bravery isn't what we think it is
It's not jumping out of a plane
It's not diving with sharks

It's honesty
It's love
It's perseverance

It's fear in disguise

#8 Flowers

He brought me a supermarket bouquet
It was just as cheap as his apology
Shouted from the street below my window

I stayed above, smoking.

#7 Tritina

These scars are a private map
I navigate by instead of stars
My compass is a tempest

I find silence in the tempest
Chaos is my only map
It leads not to pain but to stars

Night after night I sing to the stars
Praying to be taken by the tempest
And reborn as an inked arrow on a map

Could you be my map to the stars beyond the tempest?
 

#6 Food

Hunger is a trap

Distracted by scents

Waylaying our plans

Nourishment is a tomato
Humiliated by pepper
Dissolving on the tongue
 

#5 Heirloom Varieties

We collect hunt russets for cider season
Footsteps crunching through the orchard
Patient dogs panting alonside
Later there'll be apple pie
Irish Breakfast tea
And stories before bedtime
 

#4 The Cruelest Month

December is the cruelest month
Absent others make it so
Always fewer places at the table
Fewer faces at the window
While we drink our guilt away
Fewer gifts exchanged
On each year's Christmas Day

#3 Fan Letter

Dear Carmen McRae

taken too soon from us
Goddess
talent and musicianship
Pioneer
uncompromising
Rebel

Dear Carmen McRae

taken too soon from us
Goddess
voice of liquid sapphire
Pioneer
stronger than we knew
Rebel

Dear Carmen McRae

#2 Family Portrait

Blue eyed or green
Silver haired or dark
There's a spark
That shows they're mine

They see me through the shadows
They're bold and they're funny
They hear me when I'm silent
They're the greatest gift

Blue eyed or green
Silver haired or dark
There's a spark
That sees me through

#1 Lune

When you went away
I faltered
Subsumed by heartache