#180 'Acclimatising'

#180 ‘Acclimatising’

Gradually infections take hold,

boils break out in mouths,

on hands, your throat hurts,

tiredness comes earlier each day,

unknown nurses say

they’ve seen it all before

(each one is out of here

on strict six-week rotation),

the youth worker’s taking

all the youth to Broome,

the vegetables are wilting,

and every thousand years or so

the desert settles a little more

confidently in,

gradually infections become the thing,

a cold won’t shift from your chest,

your throats is raw,

the crows are scattering the bins,

you have forgotten your umbrella,

the lessons of philosophers,

the rule of queens and kings,

and the brief lit hours given

between lengthening inconsolable nights

are given to inspecting new infections.