energy flows from a chemical
intervention
so many involuntary tasks
ticked off an unscrawled list
plans metastasize. there may be a cure
in searching for sun on a morning in winter
parrots scratch for seed on the lawn
their flock depleted, somewhere there
hibernating for a change of season
freezing sleet & faded wings

fear stretches its tentacles
into dark corners where indistinct features
collect dreams on a frosted night.
episode one is about an artist
famous and almost encountered
doubts clouding over
& stifling shoots
where shutters click and the whir
of pixels freezes a moment
not to be captured

an orange pill, again each night
stuck in the throat then another gulp
waves break on a ragged coast
the words in a book begin to blur
a story moves on, fading letters
the stars paint a glittering sky
& moon hangs low under mountain pines
gradually the volume fades
a paper chain
& pictures start to haunt again

another retreat in carriages sliding over girders
cliffs reinforced with cages full of rocks
the highway extended
deeper into gums

blue haze dulled by the season
planter boxes resist colour
at the station
nobody disembarks

the evidence of past fires blackens eucalypt skins
higher, green reflects a dipping sun
snow is predicted
the sky turns grey

another week draws its curtains
over missteps, assumptions & the ashes of various misfortunes
clouds gather, a soup of smoke
an indistinct sun blurs from showers

but still a sliver of day
shows rewrites
other roads to follow
having no faith in satellites

that fall to earth
words misheard, wrong movements
& dead ends
coded road symbols

the narcissist
in a  mirror
i saw another

blurred silhouette
reflection
blinded by light

blurred pixels
reflecting digital
puzzle pieces

making a painting
matching a box
the sky illusive

connections elude
the entire image
grass sways in the wind

struggling with shadows
that don't match
watch the diagram

bucolic with sheep
another country
a photo betrays

table of fragments
that just won't match
the cabin complete

a flowing stream
meanders over
a piece on the floor

faces grin from too much slim
& I try & I try
to stick tyres to bitumen
imaginary angels

float & judge & claim
to save but sell
seminars & books & arrive
in inexplicable palaces

where there's no chance
of access. the bishop spews fiction
Buddha knows
as I scratch & ink & I can't even

think he cares for desperate
shoes get the blues
& can't touch the ground
trying to fly

they all wonder why
these eyes are so distant
focused on
lost metropolis souls

screen dwellers
avoiding a sky full of ghosts
sages tell us
their truths

to take or leave & I
bite their fruit & swallow
it whole. spit out the
essence. where the juice

lies are real. nobody feels
how rubber treads without contact
how shoes last longer
how we stick to a grounding

tilling of dirt
plants sprout
flowers grow food
these muddy boots

the grey of a sunday morning
everything muted
by clouds carrying stormy promise
over chimneys in the midst of a city
birds are heard
settling into the elbows of trees
no-one moves outside the gates
news reports repeating words from weeks ago
when battered wings hung out to dry
branches across paths
& on a mountain platform
a soaking gale extinguished a cigarette
stolen as headlights approached

in storms windows need protection
glass darkness with an inadequate
deflection of weather. everything blurs
in a foggy mirror & the steam only gradually
dissipates. a sheen clean from
distractions. seeking answers

spoken in a different tongue.
the vanity displays a book of words
unfamiliar. Asian scripts.
Hieroglyphics of faded pictures.
a dog eared page with a code
a logarithm missing

essential sections
when the sun beats down
& glare changes focus
eyes turn deadly
they misread the script
a waterfall of assumptions

flows from globes as if earth dehydrated
to crack skin
seeping truth through
when it needs encrypting
the hacker battle
mistakes an error message

for my sister

such intricate stitching
in autumnal tones
your fingers creating
despite brittle bones

there on the sofa
we chatted and sipped
reruns with guns blazing
we knew the bleak ending

a daughter returning
from some fun or other
you dozed with slipped glasses
always a wise mother

the green squares
are sprouting
a force that renews
so many other beautiful hues

the sun keeps reflecting
all manner of blues
a grin from a tightly held
mouth near a noose

black borders surround
us all when we fade
your rainbow is rising
from such heavy rain

walk over the arch
to gold at the end
this blanket of love
warms like a true friend