departing (2009)

post-dawn
___red sun___pinks the hills
_-out the passenger window__winery country
____-signposted gourmet tours

columns of vapour_-rising_-over pools
_-& the Swan too_-as we bridge over it

this early_-only airport traffic
___rows of dormant yellow earthmovers
___________bobcats for hire

these lives we will never lead
____-laid out dead before us


Below: NASA satellite image of the Swan River, Western Australia (click on image to enlarge)

coastal (2009)

"too hot to get busy anyway"

unused sky bestowing confidence

we'll take the coastal road

Aussie flags hoisted on roofs, in sandy gardens

'fuck off we're full' sticker
__________________on a ute's rear panel

but let the sunset beach do the tender talking

the brewery will do the rest

the sea:
______yet more fields to be farmed

parasails sweep, flip
______________as tankers ride the horizon


- on the coastal road to Fremantle, WA

development (2009)

impermeable, unstirred, unmoved

these lives that go on regardless

city of satellites

another new suburb on the city fringe

mounds of sand, industrial supplies stand waiting

shopping village has the works for home and garden

"we'll need at least 15 bags of ice"

the hells these cuts of meat came through (you'd weep & refuse to eat)

driving past these oversize words that say nothing, nothing to stop us

"what lifting the ban on uranium mining would do for this state"

news item portraying protesters as terrorist-clown-mutants

this station plays the golden oldies


- Ellenbrook, WA, 1/1/09


Below: 'Au$$ie Living' (click on image to enlarge)

Waterfront (2008)

subdued table

lunch overheated / flavourless

running the risk of being asked to leave -
___shouldn't be eating this food here
___though no sign tells us not to

the bona fide clientele stab their disapproval
___without so much as eye contact

this place swallowed by sun & ice cream kids
___boats knocking against the quay
___playground throbbing with fluro noise

a drink could make things worse

in the car park cars melting /
___wavelets shimmer on windshields


- Hilarys Boat Harbour, Perth, WA

The days write themselves (2008)

A roadsign warns against golf buggies.
Listen: is that a shot off the fairway
or a big bloke preparing to spit?
Perhaps both. Grey roos
bound out of sandtraps.
No one is making this up. Really
the days write themselves.
There'll be people over at 5
for champagne & nibbles.
Then the Monday after the 60th bash
we'll fit in 9 holes.
Stocked up so much alcohol
the house begins to sink. And
the parrots don't want us here either.
Not as if they need our help
to be classy. Who owns this plot
of blue & cirrus sky? Flies
routinely circle the heat
of the road. 4x4s rocket past
as we retreat into slim roadside shade.
Grasshoppers broadcast dry static.

- The Vines, WA, 24/12/08

These bastions of quiet achievement (2008)

What can be said here?
Passing a school
& two churches,
a dozen placards
of success.
Truly,
this plot of land was sold
by Candice Wellman. She
looks happy, but
what choice does she have?
Systemic smile.
Space at a premium -
fill it while you can!
All we're asking for is
sedated children,
by which we mean our own
or those seated nearby
(having paid top dollar
for these seats). "Sorry this is
such a one-sided
conversation;
in fact I'm interested
in what you have thought.
I mean on a personal level.
What you think
when you're not thinking,
how you swim as you drown."

- Scarborough, WA, 23/12/08