slumped under a tree
in the centre of the city
half-empty bottle by your side
liquid purple ticket
to the dreamtime

eyes shut
foot twitching
a smile on your round black face

lost in ancestral memories
walking the scorched red earth
of Arnhem land
escaping for a while
the hatred of the white New World

Listen, my parents,
the grasses are crawling,
the trees are all thrumming.
Soon, birds won’t be able to sing.
Listen. Hear me. Our time
is for turning. If the old ways don’t die, we can’t win.

*

Listen, my children:
our grasses are crawling,
our trees, yes, they’re thrumming
birds know what they know as they sing.
Listen, hear it. True time
ever calling. Lay down your despairing. Join in.

Call a                          doctor/ plumber/ priest
My heart is               broken/ leaking/ deceased
My life is                   worthless/ so much better/ over
I'm going to              **** myself/ tell your wife/ Dover
How could you         leave me/ not know/ lie?
I hope you                return my stuff/ come back/ die
I'll never                   forget you/ forgive you/ go away
I need                        closure/ a DNA test/ to tell you I'm gay
Your                           face/ crotch/ top of your back
Is                                so beautiful/ lumpy/ unusually slack
Your                           ex/ mother/ best friend from school
Always made me      great coffee/ feel inadequate/ drool
I will                           miss you/ **** you/ stalk you forever
That way we can      be friends/ get away with it/ be together
I'm sorry                   you did this/ I did this /we failed
I promise to               pay you/ dye it back/ get you bailed
Please don't               leave me/ show the Polaroids/ write or call

(*delete as appropriate, just delete it all.....)

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.