Saturday, November 30, 2019

Kit Kelen #1428 - certain tricks of the skin


1428
certain tricks of the skin

seeing is such

under your hat
bone knowing
call it

track is a map
in the all four paws

laughter in hedges
like sea-lapped stone

and scree slide
footsure come to

stand, survey
hear hum for a hillside

you and I so sure
to be the smoke rising

creek run away
down down to the haunts
of women, men

just as much as moss
as lichen

it’s breath by breath
how else could we come?

all pumped from the clock
worn down to whiff

commit to certain style
skin tricks, leaf swivels

bursts of up make notes
come to an understanding

should have listened
when the body said

push to test
perspire

till the snow
and we all melt

cliffs lit
looking up

winter white smooth here
I must imagine not-a-soul

disappearing in this script

a frolic in the furs
days of the sun past
this cloud if we climb

topple off over into

home is a trick of the skin


KA Rees #62 - Light Kinks

Light Kinks

Chewing out the dirty sky
silk mink that light stink
hard hit baseball scat
down n' out in that dirt street
leaves in the guttering
silk purse and lavende-a jacky rand-a
guitar solo on the flying V, middle note
C chewing the milky whey.


Kerri Shying R -#596 - room X205

room X205

Written for the strategy and the safer city symposium
Part of the 16 days of activism violence against women

there's me
wheeling by the coffee shops the steps
prevent me entry the blind can't
negotiate the menu on your boxed plea
instagrams here's a
shout out to the deaf

my body is a workplace my
complaint an industrial
dispute

every week you see my vibe
fold my knickers wash me
clean I need you behind the 8 ball
so keep the peace read my diagnosis
see my brain disease

can you really trust
the words any more than I
can trust my limbs I'm a suspect
individual
at least

Coalescence Part 4 # Claine Keily

There came a point when I had to give up. The heat and the blindness around me got me. I cowered in my little room and filled glass cabinets I had found by the roadside, with flowers both dead and alive. I strung up fairy lights and pulled the rescued animals towards me.


In a few years I would leave here and return to my home. From there, I would watch this place burn.

Jeffree Skewes #140 Miffed too


truth is, of mythology
we call-out the duds
and justly praise the rest eg.

water and taxes trickle downhill
all magpies swoop in September
humans are superior

curators get it right
bank execs aren't paid enough
the tall poppy syndrome is exaggerated

books, hard copy and libraries are doomed
contemporary art is not the art of now
mathematics is the most useful of all school subjects

avocado numbers are in dangerous decline
video replays solve the issues
coal is unrelated to anything

too much leisure is the root of all evil
most of us want to work forever
childcare is not a result of late-capitalism

rap music is a mere transition
chocolate a luxury never deserved before breakfast
wood is by far the best material

building roads is better than investing in art
what goes up must come down
one-hit wonders actually have more...

poetry is on the rise
America and the UK will get better
modern children are naturally smarter

no amount of calling-out politicians helps
the highest mountain is closer than you think
overcrowding makes sense

the best years are ahead
fashion's not a thing
if you count slowly the pressure comes down

dogs are smarter than cats
baldness a sign of virility
Christmas has never been bigger

TV sport is the new physical activity
vegans will rise up
myths are a curse


Friday, November 29, 2019

Kit Kelen #1427 - secret ballot (song)

1427
secret ballot

notes for a song


here’s the big lie
did you vote for it?

that we’re so good
no harm by us

nobody’s going to say
guilt’s a little wallow

it’s a secret ballot
that’s a kind of ballet  

did you waltz in,
vote for the big lie?
did you suck it up?
did you swallow?

could you see right through them
telling you?

it was never our fault
we were following orders

white lie
just the ticket

someone had to barb the borders
on account of the sticky wicket

here it is
did you vote for it?
no one’s game to say

did you vote for what they’re doing to them?
what they’re doing to us?
are you in their pay?

no one’ll notice us
we’re so small
couldn’t make a difference
not if we tried

and we’re so good
no harm from us

did you fall
for that one?
don’t point at us
when the planet’s fried

did you vote for the big fat lie?

did you swallow it?
are you spreading it round?

bad taste in your mouth
does it stick in your throat?

or do you prefer to lie with the liars?
does it suit you better to gloat?

this idea of your innocence
did you fall for that?
how we had to do less
cause of tit for tat?

did you vote for the big fire
for the drought?

how long can you keep yourself safe
selling freedoms?
how many trees till your forest is gone?

did you believe the highest bidder?
chuffed to be worth so much
were you bought?

all nodding along
because birds in soiled nests agree
‘it wasn’t me, it was never me’
and we were never caught

you can file a lie away
put it under ‘not for now’
or ‘might never happen’

how good is a lie?
did you vote for it?

how many fingers am I holding up?
black was white last time I looked
here’s the big lie
no harm by us
and what can we do if the planet’s cooked?

did you notice the animals voting?
did you see when the trees stood up?
did you feel how the world was turning?
did you hear them all say enough?

it was a sacred ballot
so nobody can know

the markets will do terrifically well
the city is underwater
the bush is on fire and it’s blowing away
buy up shares in insurance!

do you know how the ghosts are voting
the country
the soil
the seas
?
maybe we should vote for them
maybe vote with the trees

twinge of remorse you unworlded the change?
never thought that would work
the graph goes up and on

here’s the big lie
did you vote for it?

that we’re so good
no harm by us

sacred ballot’s
our little ballet

cough and splutter
then we all go out
no one will ever know how we voted
when this wicked world is gone


Thursday, November 28, 2019

KA Rees #61 - Anatomy of a raindrop


Anatomy of a raindrop

Half light has fallen into dust
like half of a broken haiku, what
use hawk eyes, dust and fire and fine
ash mix, there is a meeting of
air masses, like a revolt
of shareholders taking a chunk
out of executive bonuses. Light forks
dance, molecules of rain fall
but don’t drop—they’re shaped
like the top of a burger bun—they coalesce,
bond together. Shake down the sky.

Kit Kelen #1426 - Plato

1426
Plato

in a forest of this rain, breeze dreaming

the cave is God’s mind
clamour till dark is  

here’s smoke
all a month with now
knows us by name

see a way clear
slept past

here’s a philosopher king
bright plumage
rug for pride

guess an end of this dilation

find winged
all sorts lost to be

just with a little prompt
there are things
you might remember having known

Plato has a gun
is holed up in the Academy

the whole scheme’s doomed
we know about the Big Bang now
learned in the Planetarium
(isn’t that where we are?)

as the mosquito can tell our kind
with one bite

sleep
a picture of a bed
and here’s the candlelight
he’s smoking again
told him and told him
but flit

later there’ll be neo-magic
that will take some nous

gather the facts
and file away
you may be of use later 

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Jeffree Skewes #139 Miffed

there is some truth in mythology

we called out the duds
others earn accolades

like it was going out of fashion
the found-outs were placed in the red column
pending ones continued in black and drew ire
sum unknown due to those who sat on the fence
water and taxes trickle downhill
magpies only swoop in September
humans superior

occasionally the curator gets it right
bank execs are paid not unreasonably enough
the tall poppy syndrome is exaggerated

books, hard copy and libraries are doomed
contemporary art is the art of now
the Australia council is never too top-heavy
coal is unrelated to anything
avocado numbers are in decline
math is the most useful of all school subjects

video replays are the way going forward
too much leisure the root of all evil
most of us want to work forever
a smart set of pegs and smile gets the deal done

childcare is not a by-product of capitalism's growth
time is longer or shorter depending on the gain
rap is a mere transition in music history
wood is by far the best material
chocolate a luxury never deserved before breakfast

building roads is better than investing in art
what goes up must come down
all water is molecularly the same
myths are in danger of becoming legend
one-hit wonders actually have more

poetry is on the rise
America and the UK will get better
growing lawn has never been bigger
modern children are naturally smarter

no amount of calling out politicians helps
the highest mountains are closer than you think
radio shock-jocks read from a script
flossing is quite difficult for seniors
more hospitals are not the solution
overcrowding make sense

the best years are ahead
apples in lunches last longest
fashions is not really a thing anymore

if you count slowly the pressure comes down
dogs are smarter than cats
baldness a sign of virility
history is solid
mindfulness the new grey
bucket lists are thing of the past
Christmas has never been bigger

TV sport is the new physical activity
vegans will rise up

myths are a curse


Kit Kelen #1425 - waiting for the fires

1425
waiting for the fires

after Cavafy


why bother dusting?
       watering flowers?

to static foretelling radios falter

why read a book when leaves turn to flame?

be merry, for tomorrow – hell

shall I plant the parsley?
shall I plant a tree?

why anything when maybe?

we’ll need trees when the fire’s done

because there are these predicted
out of control, being controlled
fire consumes the map
and country

mortgages and rent
beyond the black stump
a fire is its own insurance

shadows march in the cave
things precious to it

can we feed crumbs?

down fire
I gift this beautiful tree

old shed, no one needs
may we make offering?
chickens the right colour

so we mock the deniers of fire
make mirth
let’s trip them
laugh
tie knots

be merry
make hay to burn

all hail
beautiful beautiful
thus this oration

why yoga
when I will be ash?

hear the singing in among
all ideas in the cloud

we’re the tribe who are ready
always packed and ready to go
make circles of this
no country to return
though

after and there’s nothing to burn

we ornament to ogle it
gorgeous raiment gone

of course ukuleles
how well pianos burn, guitars

love is itself a kind of fire
like a truth the bones show through

it licks but not to taste
we will present our reasons to fire

wind brings it
and the breeze too goes
taller than we stand

our offerings are meaning, art
and sentiment and taste

no, rain is a procession
keep it in a tank, a hose

the order of things out

birds above it thermalling
catch orange of the sun

brief visit, will it be announced?
every question burns

sudden as the news
fire makes its own weather

gold survives it, stars
this ripens past the fruit

and prayer
will we be spared?

take the neighbours
take the town

some think of fire as the answer
perhaps it will not come 

Kerri Shying R #595 - ever wonder what your purpose in life is

ever wonder what your purpose in life is

it was the nine hundred
and eighty-fifth text
I said look now  
gently as the telling
can be done this
here is unwanted

still it comes
that powerless pain
surges   from the sea bottom
my undertow

the bathtubs where I crouched naked
fists over ears the ranting man
paces telling me at volume

what a piece of shit disappointment
I have turned out to be and

just
what he wants how it's going to go

the next day you
sms again
inside I bleed
I roll my eyes back
so far they see my spine

always wanted
one of those see-through
umbrellas to keep me dry
while
looking at the traffic the impending
crashes flashing lights
an impermeable membrane with
my finger on the button

to say stop
is there an app
does that


Tuesday, November 26, 2019

KA Rees #60 - Requiter

Requiter


resonate, ruthless, rant, rush, rort, rejoice, roister, road, ripe,

ruminate, rust, requiter, ruff, reserve, restrict, refute, remove

run-in, resident, rustle, rule, rerebrace, ruin, reservoir, rest,

room, rookery, relegate, reprimand, roof, ref, rubbish, ring, rant,

rubble, roughen, reveal, result, RIGHT, rant, rare, resign, rocket,

rifle, race, rapt, resort, range, restaurant, remote, render

rant, reptile, repulsive, remnant, reject, remove, retire, rocket,

repress, rowdy, ruin, rove, run, rural, resuscitate, refuse, rent.

Kit Kelen #1424 - piano blues



1424
piano blues

to the memory of Bartolomeo Cristofori


pebbles in a stream
now done

a conjuring of skies

skulls full of spare teeth
police won’t find

I’ve hidden one foot of the well
in the drought

see the daylit stars
all twinkle
to find a tune

and in among the idea shining –
just a few bars –
this little thing I thought up


*

everyone’s getting rid of pianos
they’re breaking them up for firewood
they’re taking them to the tip

clearly a piano’s an embarrassment
who’d be caught with one?
crushed under, dusting?

the ivory, the ebony
hordes of crime stored in the keys
and all those strings – too many!
a piano’s overdone

everyone’s getting rid of pianos
they’re not turning them into rafts
or gardens
they’re not even letting them rot where they are

they’re tossing them over cliffs

will a piano dead-cat bounce?

who doesn’t need some tuning?

they’re burning pianos on a great pyre
stand clear when the strings go – tension released

around which once – Gershwin, Jerry Lee and Little Richard

piano smoke to cure a guitar
perverse the age we’re in

in a graveyard where pianos shift

some nights stuck on the black keys for soul
weeks alone with the white

Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Oscar Petersen
have helped us all from day to dream
Keith Jarrett on a loop
and echoing

now a coffin full of string

they’ve fallen far from concert pitch
but still hold a tune
or the promise

long neglected notes
so sombre shrill
down to the left
where nobody plays
or up in the clouds
dogs hear

Rachmaninoff is typing a memoir
Satie made a little pile in his flat
he died to break your heart  

absinthe!
leapt at it like a madman
the piano drove him to that
that long long smile – a taunt

can’t carry such things to the crossroads
the devil comes to you

it was an attack of the Stravinskies

they turn your lounge into a parlour
soon it will be salon
what when the music stops?

people have been killed by them falling
pianos have been played to death
and still they would not die

swansongs  
and terror
a bomb has been planted in the piano

imagine buying such a thing in parts
same as with your car

everyone’s getting rid of pianos
they’re breaking them up for firewood
they’re taking them to the tip

here’s the romance of the thing
I sleep on the lid of a baby grand
to keep the vampires in

pianolas just for tonnage, for hernia
it’s the whole day golden
Liberace, Chopin, moonlight, Fats
and Chico most of all
Chico points the way

mysteries in timber
did you notice
the piano’s been taken away?

here’s a Jimmy Durante smile
now we can vacuum that corner
see colour the carpet was

Rick Wakeman
and spooky in fugues
Bach’s at home
we’re still inventing
all the children play

on facebook see them every day
and not a note of tragedy

it’s all very matter-of-fact
‘plays well’ or ‘suit beginner’

everyone’s getting rid of pianos
they’re breaking them up for firewood
they’re taking them to the tip

in a few years they’ll be waking up
along with the tribes, tongues, all kinds of creature
say – where did that great axe go?

set a highball up on the 88
slide over to me in the polish
I slip

the past may be over
I don’t care
see all of heaven reflected

ghosts gather nowhere in the night
but here’s a little singalong

in winter a dram
here’s your fire

in a heatwave
fountain and stream

really, if I lived in the desert
I’d take them all in

little tinkle would do for my rain

*

thing I thought up

one foot well hidden
in the drought

pebbles in a stream gone
now a conjuring of skies

skulls full of spare teeth
detectives will never find

and in among the idea shining

look up
see the daylit stars
all twinkling for a tune

Monday, November 25, 2019

KA Rees #59 - A Bea a Beau a Bell


A Bea a Beau a Bell


Well, a girl’s gotta get even down

on Jubilee Street. Those fuckers 

they think they own my whole me, but I wrote

them into the margin, always thirsty 

they can’t do a single thing without

that thin skin, that purse-on, I’m an only

me armada, divide and conquer

dapper Joe, Doe Joe. One slice of

a gun silhouette. I am the bell. You, the shell.

I am the ringing bell, down on Jubilee street.

Kerri Shying R #594 -the perfect melon

The perfect melon

you fell and clear it comes
the fragile balance beam my ego
times the numbers in the bank equal
how much care accrues to love
that's there a given formula   how near
I come to save you you fall and lick at
wounds sing your special song

siren of the softest skin   in dirt
and blood under the porch

it isn't midnight   when the envying
of slashes   stitched     and simple
fixes wakes me and the world burns
and you're stoned

Kit Kelen #1423 - floral tribute

1423
floral tribute
vindication ballad (for human interest)

no one will notice a language gone, a people,
species, world about to drown


say murder
nail up
burn a witch

with flowers
poor poor
choke back tears

in fire
most foul
lovely spite

it might
as well
have been

of ourselves
we hold
such fears

hot out
but cool
in the shop

time slips
distracted
keep to the wound

kind, callous
get some sweets
for darling

littlies
now with
God

wouldn’t think
in this street
suspected all along

couldn’t guess
it would be your neighbour
knew the family too

say murder
nail up
burn a witch

here is retribution
guess out an instinct gone
bring flowers

known to the authorities
where was
the father then?

fetch the bouquets
garlands, wreaths
how never how never

tend the fresh wound
let her rot
let her rot in gaol

it’s of ourselves
we hold such fears
never and never again

for those whom we
never saw
but for the grace of

she was drunk
and stoned, so deep
in conversation

time slips out
of instinct
lost

those cherubim
the seraphim
it was airless there

nor howling
to which bottle led
hear them sing

see little wings
and flutter up
roses in their cheeks

make gossip
substances in her possession
and a chillum too

anthem chorus
burn the witch
or flay alive

draw, quarter, hang, garrotte
just one flower
take your shot

so they wouldn’t get away
is why she locked
the doors

lost among the flowers
all happy in heaven
up floating

on those bright dials
sun shines
no more

cause no one
in this world for them
so let her rot in gaol

a simple sombre silence tells
to be so holy holy
and holier than thou

though you
may only
whisper it

murder, nail up
burn a witch
have you laid your flowers?

all the while guessing
runs through these heads
say scorn with, cast first stone

and the last
it’s strangers build
the floral tribute

and soft toys too
keep to the wound
here’s a fester

of mourners
so everyday
and knit with

it’s as if
they had been
waiting

children will drown
in a silence like this
it’s just so

all the saints of heaven see
it wasn’t me
it wasn’t me 

Jeffree Skewes #138 Land signals




























Mother overland
in your hand
looking out
everything we see
trees hills all creatures clouds
we are all country she cried

sing now
to any of those alive 
on one knee it's all the same
rise-up drag a comb across your head
work to shine
know what I mean

breath-in receive
thank someone 
pass it on and know the time is now
we come we stay we go - that's life on earth
living the dream and time
makes the world go round

say it matters air's clean
and water flows 
someones gonna drink it all
stealing ground diggin holes
someone always tries to block this message

who's gonna do wailing now she cried




image: Dreaming Walter Dreaming - detail / synthetic polymer & enamel paint / JMS


Sunday, November 24, 2019

KA Rees #58 - Deficient

Deficient


Drug, drunk, dry, dye, dress, DREADFUL, drop, dram, drowse, disorder,

discolour, dissemble, door, double, double, dissidence, doubting, drag-net,

dramatic, drop-out, dyke, dynamite, dodger, display, disavow, domino,

dilapidated, deride, disagree, deign, deafness, defect, dawdle, dark, darkening,

dash, degrade, discriminate, disenfranchise, drama, disobedient, dismiss,

divorce, donate, divergent, doggerel, dragnet, delicate, dominate, donkey, dissolve,

domesticity, drown, dog, drier, dung, duffer, drought, dugout, duplicate,

dwarf, disgrace, discontent, discard, dispirit, disown, dwelling, drawing,

do, dizzy, dray, dream, drive-in, drowse, dun, dump, dip-shit, dynamite, daze,

damage, darkly, decrease, deliberate, drum, duress, deficient, disappear.

Rob Schackne #1031 - Where Did I

Where Did I

Where did I put it
or did I just throw it
to the wind, to water
the river takes away
fragments, but a piece
of memory stays, did I
forget so that I could see

tantamount to nothing
aslant of different light
after the forgetting
the cracks to spell
the names of things
the waves, the stars
inbetween of you & me
now where did I put it


Kit Kelen #1422 - everyday people


1422
everyday people

how to tell?
so gently softly catch them
always creeping up

you know them by ubiquity
wobble a bit on their way

do you suspect the ones next door?
unsure of opinion
mid-rant
mustn’t interrupt

be by being no one

they belong
so we are blessed

call them
common or garden Australians
wipe that’s-not-a-tear away

except you are a hermit
meet them every day

they come from nowhere
but can’t have been always
we must not mention that

take shots
say cheap
spare no expense

everyday people circulate
say silly things
can’t possibly mean

boy on a blue bike
girl in pink fits
there isn’t daylight in between

they don’t …
but the list’s too long
still, it’s how you’d tell them from

threw rubbish from the windows once
now they clean it up
no chamber pots
or explanation needed

man on the street
and woman in the kitchen

they salt the earth over shoulder
where angel devil are

on a bushfire breeze you find them
good eggs

caught in a rip
will sometimes drown
if Hughie deigns to send it down

do they have a colour these?
are we game to tell?

so quiet
whisper murder
no one would ever guess

everyday people
have survived so far

with pointless incivility
they finish sentences for you

watch them voting
won’t take long
they do it with their feet

they’re swingers
and must be marginal to care
unslick

everyday people won’t be gainsaid
they are passing through
ah memories!

Coles and Woollies, pepsi coke
you just cannot predict

everyday people camp out on the tiles
clutch tickets
do a bender

fight your fires
put out the trash
they could be American
who’d ever know?

quiet sly they are
like snipers
before you even notice
give you the shirt off your own back
wax from their ears
that’s to remind you

statistically they go to prison
only for a crime

many more for live export

hear them sing
see flags to wave
off in a van around the country

two chairs, four burners
it all folds away
put them on the map

still? they won’t sit still for a selfie
you can’t sign up for this

once they were unwashed
carried fleas as well
plague on both houses
set the street alight
with Christmas
it’s LED today

but my people right or wrong
unwitting always
or I mean forever and a day
they are

a journalist observes
how your politician bows
to make the graven
image in a mirror

everyday people
with us like the poor
and love a cash surprise

are fastened to the public teat
don’t you nanny everyday people
it’s what heaven’s for

how their wisdom falls in gems
like entrails of an oracle

they belong
so we are blessed

they are the unknown trick
cenotaph’s all over the shop

head on a penny
salute the king
love a way back when

everyday people are so quiet
you could hear the market drop

often invade other countries
but only when might is right

pay taxes once in a blue moon
grudgingly they take their gift
beyond entitled
it’s very quiet

they were never on the dole
not me
and never washed ashore

soon superannuated
that word’s much too long

can they spell?
do they know the wind blows?

not my cup of tea, some say
and so consign to hell

how they love to dig
they’re deep
close to God
do mysteries

dogs are walking them
tails wag the dogs
fleas with batons bounce along
everyone’s a microbe now

do laps with bat
and everyday people
because they can
always lick their balls
sniff yours

fences love good neighbours
don’t you call them bigots
how can the everyday be?

mustn’t take them for dummies
lob avacados at them
and everyday people explode

in a gender neutral way of course
the customer is always right

some tribes will have carried fire
others are pursued