Mikaela Castledine #8 The First Hot Night Of The Season

On the first
hot night of the season
I cannot sleep
the ceiling fan is on medium
which makes it tickticktick
doors are open which makes it noisy
from early traffic
and late possums bickering
on their return to the roof

It's 27 degrees at 5 am and
a neighbour is up
with the radio on loud enough to irritate
but not clear enough to hear
if it is easy listening
or hits of the eighties

It sounds nasal
atonal
like radio North Korea
a strident call from a tinny tannoy
loud speakers on tall poles stretched across empty parade grounds
or in massed walls assaulting the demilitarised zone
with pop propaganda from the south
foreign correspondent reports
British telemovies
skeletal POWs building railways in the suffocating heat
where they know all about torture ticktickticktick
sound tracks
and sleep deprivation
and sweat

I wake at seven thirty with a start
the sheet tied around like a tourniquet

The cricket is on