KA Rees #52 - In which the boy realises the hero isn't on this page

In which the boy releases the hero isn't on this page

In this poem he’s a baleen feeder full of fingers and nails,

he’s a wonder of keratin and hairy fringes, product that

twists curls to ringlets – a power socket full of Eraserhead.

In this poem, he’s a jailhouse of Presley sideburns, black

and white stripes— a uniform, swinging air guitar, musical notes

staves and bars. In the next stanza he’s coming undone, pasty

in eight minute old light from the sun, he’s carrying

glasses and squinting at cosmic radiation; it’s

a long way to find his type of atmosphere and blue sky.

He's realised the limitations of this situation, that

a mouth full of fingers and nails, an excess of facial

growth and his particular set of windows are sub-optimal.

In the next poem he's asked to swap out this
kingdom for a horse. Can't say I blame him.

Kit Kelen #1416 - closer than you think

1416

closer than you think

one gets used to a scarcity

it spreads

here’s the last leaf

I say salad

gulp for air

clutch at belongings

not enough grease to turn the wheels

no tiger for the tank

I kid myself

where the joke runs cold

turn on the tap

for the fairy dust

one has to love hoof made paths

the dew falls for a fact

books when there was only one

someone else had to read

dole temperatures out

till something like warm

or breeze to other end the year

like a sun forgetting first thing

sky lost to rain

mnemonic for what?

track ends then here we are

so quietly and listen, eyes shut

who’s that in the garden then?

time is the telling thing

Jeffree Skewes #135 Breath

Air grows acrid grey

throats are speaking less blue

spirits sniffed and tasted

if this breeze keeps up

tears may follow

right now blanket covers

smothering any way out

thoughts follow intuition

her power's in the moment

the land since before

the way way back

decides which way

mother the source and destination

nurturing the play-creation

respect is all we can do

smoking ceremony

clearing attention to 

who mother really is

welcome to country

image:     A Welcome to Country  / Invasion Day 2016 Aboriginal Embassy Canberra smoking ceremony  / JMS

KA Rees #51 - Pattern for an Arsehat

Pattern for an Arsehat

Arsehat, colloquial term given to Australia’s highest order of political achievement. Previously

referred to as Prime Minister and currently worn by the Liberal Party’s Scott Morrison - Urban Dictionary.

The pattern required for a bat wraps says,

preferred size 45 cm X 45 cm, use 100%

cotton flannelette and poly-fill stuffing.

Koala mittens are needed for burnt pads

of furry marsupials, they held onto bark

of their engulfed homes; they had no place left

to go. Rest the koala template onto a piece of cotton

fabric and trace four times, cut out the mitten

shape and sew together 2 x 2. Leave bottom open

so that a burnt paw may be placed inside.

Attach woolen tie to X so tie can

be wrapped around the base to tighten.

Repeat steps to create second mitten.

Repeat again, and again, but not

too many times as koalas are functionally

extinct, their habitats lost to land clearing,

killed by cars and dogs, and the policies of

successive federal and state governments.

Wildlife pouch tutorial, please note that

liners should be 100% natural fibres

no synthetic fabrics or anything plastic

No thread that glitters. No bullshit brinkmanship

or pushing out platitudes such as ‘thoughts

and prayers’, no raising of empty palms

pressing flesh to the greased wheel, no

having a cold one for photo opportunity

with a quiet Australian quietly sobbing

for all that he's lost on the nightly news.

That pattern is too well known.

Rob Schackne #1029 - "Controlling fire"

Controlling fire
water is on the way
there is entropy, but
then you have to see
how gale wind makes
the big trees grow
gusting with a fury
machine guns spit seeds
fighting for my heart
heat enters my home
in the thick here & now
smoke nowhere to go
I was some place else

Coalescence Part 2 # Claine Keily 141

Here the streets blur in the dust. Cars rot in my neighbour's yard. I see it all. There is only chicken wire between us.

He is young and already divorced, I have been told there is a child also. He is new to the mines. We are both new to the desert. He cuts down trees then waters his rooftop to stave off the sun. At night I hear his beer cans fall from his outdoor table. They rustle in the dark beside my new planted saplings which are already burnt despite my attention. Our airconditioners groan, worn out, asked too many times to allow us to sleep softly while they murder the heat.

Kit Kelen #1415 - on fire - be water

1415

on fire – be water

from a dry place

a poem for Hong Kong

I thought of you again today

your autumn

how it cannot end well

here more and more aware

of the weather

a fear of lightning now

someone has turned the planet for money

and now they hide from the fact

but it isn’t all about me

stand up

it’s right to be water

in a house on fire

is that what we’re throwing now?

oops, I forgot

and how do you tame your dragon?

it’s only in imagination

there’ll be chimes times up

seen this sort of thing before

am I a superhero?

is this a game?

a walk of life from everyone

I have an amazement for you

dragons aren’t tamed

they go down in the dust

then another dragon gets up

we are all Chinese after all

except for language, skin

and there is no religion

never thought it was in you

under attack must defend

better be water though

do what you must

better to die on your feet, is it?

nice theory but I’m worried for you

likely I’ll be wrong again

I can smell the smoke where I am

can’t tell the tricks of the wind though

I had thought it was all about money once

that someone on a ledge leans out

someone’s about to jump

that’s your graph

and glorious

somewhere west ones of a difference

are chained to a desert to die

stand up

we are wronged

there is no doubt

who is it tricked us to here?

another island’s floating off

how may I separate your empire?

 oops

mustn’t call it that

must not say emperor

or stir up dust

all of this for fear

distrust

show no mercy they say

stand up

pretend that I’m American

liberty goes down in a heap

always had a gun this

but I’m the one defenceless

aim at me

make martyr

is it for freedom?

is it for right?

for something we caught on TV

diseases of fine print

never underestimate monster

vanish for nothing, will it be?

a bottle of fire is thrown at the smoke  

the world turns

and will the world see

over the border

read only lies

all of the lies about me

stand up

stand up

walk into their fire

place bets

it’s all about who to be

it’s right to be water

in a house on fire

am I a superhero?

is this a game?

hear crackling through the static

that is the past

and it’s coming again

the future goes like this

imagine the dragon

you’re born to tame

there are so many questions

what’ life worth?

mine? yours? anyone’s?

all bets are off

is it too late say

step back?

all that won’t be forgiven goes on

there is no umbrella

for so much rain

all the rain is fire

will I be hero?

and who will I save

when no one comes to save me?

don’t catch us in a corner then

apologies, must flow!

in a poem it’s not so simple as life

it’s right to be water

in a house on fire

Kerri Shying R #593 - In the water

In the water

the bats fell  like ash
across the five am grey sky
in silence always cars
waiting birds not fooled by
alterations to the clocks

mosquitos take a full hour
to waken I've time
to tend to beets to trees
and listen to the air

on my pillow    eight to twelve
large spread paw prints
in dirt four toes
a fat pad I see it
treading in comfort while
I slept then notice
the daddy long legs
on the end of the pen

my nature is in the mornings
before this brain   blows itself up
into new order rightness
before the spies of commerce
whistle and click
along the lines

KA Rees #50 - 50 wahoo!

50 wahoo!

Now early to bed
off you go, toodle-oo
a poem for another day.

Kit Kelen #1414 - about the darkness (a quick grope)

1414

about the darkness

– a quick grope

for fear of abstraction

we both know

because of niceness

had to get away with

the cheerful keeping of the shop

rakish and will be boys

wink and you’re away

free smile

even advancing in age

because love was unconditional

came with the faces assigned

business as usual

the baggage

and a notching up

better left unsaid

could not keep it in

we both know

all

how often asked

forgot the permissions

because of not mentioning

a thing went on

this kiss caught

a misdemeanour

everyone knows

never told

minor omission

wondering what

and how far back?

the breathlessness

in justice and out of it

blame the drink

idea of damnation

building of new hells

their renovation

imagine born this way

that’s the theory

get a travel guide for the fairytale

there isn’t a curse but forever

there are no gods to forgive

Jeffree Skewes #134 Sea of numbers

after & for Kit Kelen #1413 watch and act 

image: Sea of numbers / synthetic polymer paint on cotton paper on timber sheet / 114x166x3 cm / JMS

KA Rees #49 - Migraine

Migraine

Whispered a splinter dug

into two hemispheres light a throb

threatening to swamp lurid

chemicals, scintilla. Lost

to deluge, jangle display nausea.

Raise you a scarlet heat for a sudden grey,

long suffering distress echo for a moment

in dark of the darkest shade.

Kit Kelen #1413 - floruit

1413

floruit

past certain things and still

alive awake aware

this bloom!

you look for a sign

and you’re it

an out-peering

fresh of breath

weary with just hearing the scores

but here’s a view from the top of the game

from

fall for me

we go down together

do the mortal coil shuffle off

to be the sunshine let

rain for a need

cloud carrying member of the poem

and often unseen influence

unacknowledged for a lack of laws

come creeping onto a next page

there’ll be the daisy pushups later

timing is all

even especially in the dry

and likely to light

it was here they’ll say

this part of the century  

a kind of map

thought something not thought heretofore

of course one is remembered wrongly

then not remembered much

and then there’s not at all

there’s nose to arse by whiff

by half a head

by drool

sit down with the words like this

the words and we were always there

see how she/he is blooming now

just follow this simple prescription 

Jeffree Skewes #133 Koala there

Matilda looked down
a moment before the cracks
sent more trees to ground
too late too far all around
running not Koalaforte



#Tanka

KA Rees #48 - Bug Plinks at Varuna

Bug Plinks at Varuna

Hat tip to Gerard Manley Hopkins

The leaves on veined branches long sweeping shuttles of light

A gust flusters the canopy with gestures of flight—white cockatoos

charge and tumble combs a mess, light, shade, and pattern dance

across grain of the desk. Bugs plink the windows, a massive correction

of velocity. They slingshot to green intensity, leaves rustling

the canopy. Outside, a woman quietly uses her mobile phone, crown

bowed. So much the attitude of prayer. This light and the other—

half-blind; of being and not being. Neither here, nor there. Electronic
communication / electronic communion. I’m surprised
there’s not more bug juice over everything.

Rob Schackne #1028 - A Modern Prayer/Time Will Tell

A Modern Prayer/Time Will Tell


Now I lay me down to sleep

car packed check gutters check 
branches and debris cleared check 
hoses ready check children OK check 
animals inside check food check

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

it's hard when the elected so-called 
leaders of the country haven’t got 
sense enough to see the world 
how it really is the silly bastards

And if I should die before I wake

don’t plan on it someone has to stay 
open-eyed fires only ten kilometers away 
the wind’s dropped now but who’s 
to know what will happen

I pray the Lord my soul to take

everything else clean it all up 
and dress us in white see if there's 
enough souls to go round and if it 
comes to that we’ll find out soon enough

God bless mummy & daddy & little sister

farmers their farms the children and 
the critters domesticated and wild 
and only time will tell keep us from hell 
may the bush may all fare well

Kit Kelen #1413 - watch and act

1413

watch and act

the numbers

roughing in

a little poem of hard facts

if our coal doesn’t

someone else’s will

kill, I mean

creatures flee the forest

everyone’s behaving strangely

might as well rake in

imagine there isn’t any global warming

scientists fancied it

like smoke – what is it really?

they’re only other animals

some things really are nothing at all

some nothings really are things

let’s put that in perspective

ignorance is best defence

possession is nine tenths

is it only four and a half million

who die from air pollution every year

or is it seven million?

people, I mean

the WHO figures confuse me

feed the fire and will it stay away?

throw crumbs

dance around it

will you

who knows?

better just

watch and act

no need to hyperventilate

go shrill

take a pill

how can smoke be a thing?

rake in

Priestley may have discovered oxygen in 1774

but Empedocles proved the existence of air

all thumb and bubbles

apocrypha

fake news of old

we’re only the world’s biggest supplier of coal

we only make up 30% of world supply

a mere thirty per cent

why get worked up about it?

when we can all rake in?

there is the sudden popularity of the birdbath

blue wren, bower bird

everyone visits

Newcastle is only the world’s biggest coalport

keep your shirt on

our biggest export

wallabies for dawn

smoke rise

they say a rake is essential firefighting equipment

how many civilians died in our Afghanistan and Iraq invasions?

so far away, how could it matter?

and why did we go there?

why are some people pissed off with us?

37,800 people work in coalmining in this country

less than 2% of the workforce

more of us in arts and entertain you

what would the Bureau of Statistics know?

numbers with questions

I’ve never seen a kookaburra take the slightest sip

there’s nothing to dive for

right now

how many fires are out of control?

how many governments?

how far are they away?

numbers are changing all the time

and numbers are in dispute

I’m not doing all the work

you’ll have to look up some numbers yourself

but I can give you a few

let’s compare underemployment

take a peak under the poverty line

then again there are deaths in custody

life expectancy differences

are you with me here?

keeping up?

rake it all in

maybe only half of the air pollution deaths are down to coal

that means the Australian stuff is only killing

just a few more than 100,000 people a year

a drop in the ocean

which might not even be rising after all

just a thing experts imagine, predict, observe

they’re only other humans

let’s put that in perspective

it’s about the same as the road toll in China

it’s about the same as China’s death toll from industrial accidents

anyway, they’re other people and they’re somewhere else

how’s my blood pressure going?

how’s yours?

cholesterol as well?

just a hundred thousand!

ignorance is best defence

possession is nine tenths

have we got the numbers on the floor?

round em’ up

count them to sleep

how much are those oceans really rising?

I mean because they’re probably not

how much hotter actually is it?

thanks very much

not at all

not at all

only 3000 people die from air pollution in Australia each year

a mere 3000 I should say

hardly keeps up with the road toll

well actually it’s a long way ahead

but who’s counting?

only 1.35 million people died on the world’s roads last year

you don’t want to get rid of your car

one point six trillion on military spending

that was in 2016

I hesitate to say the world spends…

because the planet itself does no such thing

angels and ministers of grace defend us!

but please try to imagine six trillion

thirty billion a year to end global hunger

since 1971 eighteen people have died from terrorist attacks on Australian soil

(six of them were the perpetrators)

have you noticed the hourglass?

more and more of them about

Empedocles did it with a clepsydra

how they measured time back then

and that was a while back  

you run the numbers!

how many dictatorships today? 

how many more than last year?

who’s funding them?

how many lies has Trump tweeted today

keep raking, keep raking, keep raking it in

trust things to keep standing

because they once did

graphs still point up

we can stake

for the low hung fruit

only two hundred homes gone in the fires

that’s so far this season

nothing!

only three dead

look how they voted

how many animals do we kill and eat each year

70 billion, not counting the fish

(fish are so hard to count)

quite a small number considering the seven billion of us

humans I mean

you see how it’s all done with numbers?

they’re magic

some are sacred

some are irrational

still we’re counting on them

fingers, toes, claws

how many koalas down?

how many are left?

how long until last koala?

how much more unsafe are we now exactly?

will we be?

it would only be an approximate figure

can’t really measure these things, can we?

and if we can’t measure them

then why worry?

how many of them died in our war?

feed the fire to keep it at bay

how many species gone this week?

how many languages extinct?

who’s counting?

do we know how to count?

whose figures should we trust?

perhaps I should teach about numbers?

poets aren’t very good at this sort of thing

but somebody has to count

how much holier than thou am I?

how much of a hypocrite too?

we can only give you rough figures for that

if we keep going at the current rate

our coal will run out in 2130

(a mere hundred and ten years…

how much damage could it do?)

of course our days are numbered too

ye know not the hour and all that

how much to fix global warming?

sorry, forgot, it isn’t a thing

like every god you cannot see

everyone’s behaving strangely

creatures flee the forest

if our coal doesn’t

someone else’s will

kill, I mean

though there are the five billion years

but I think that’s a very rough estimate

as I said before

we’re not good with numbers

hard to get past fingers and toes

still, fine to stand up and be counted

the main thing is to watch and act

you can even do it in a poem

just don’t get all agitated

move along

take a deep breath

nothing to see here

KA Rees #47 - The Offing

The Offing

I

The smoke haze so heavy, the offing invisible

in all that grey and bitter orange, the heat like a thick coat

in May. Today the sky’s pale blue, the coat a capet

draped loosely across thickets of greenery, everything spangles.

The app on your phone is not raising alerts but reminders,

refreshing the same blue sky

An orange in a bowl on the bench a mnemonic for

how fire can change firmament, or a jar of milk in the fridge

The offing visible in its lim.

II

The transformer explodes—sparks for lightning,

the house goes dark and the smell of electricity licks

particulate air. A dirt strike in a suburban

street, the bitumen releasing its intensity like an orange

moggie on heat.

Rob Schackne #1027 - "Charmed cats"

Charmed cats
come out to play
black and ginger
like two doors
is this melancholy
or is this peace
evening grows dim
is it essence or
potential will
the cats pause
watch dragonflies
waves pounding
the air is still
I've heard this before
my heart waiting
what's beyond
is this peace
is this melancholy

Kit Kelen #1412 - still here

1412

still here

beyond a miracle

sun with

focuses the mind

this fire

I thought it was the koel

but went with my breathing  

a smoke wheeze

now the sky’s pale

eerie sun

still here

car’s packed

all these years of us

and yet

skin on

yet to cook

it’s an education

was once to keep the country

thousands of years no one dug

all knew

what planet

wouldn’t wish for

all irony intended

not even fire is safe from us

the rumoured survival

is all exaggeration

Kerri Shying R #592 - Terania Creek

Terania Creek

in Newcastle
smoke in the air
like a room fragrance

this day the scent
of the old growth forests
burning mixed with
houses fauna
people you
used to know that
love    you thought you'd
never get over

the seeds     already all
being planted in the wrong
place and it's the politicians
we all want
to light
on fire

Rob Schackne #1026 - In Time

In Time

Shout to keep
from crying, smoke
gets in your eyes
and nose and throat
you pack the ute
and drive through
one spectacle of war
a battlefield of crimes
curse the fire, curse
the matted undergrowth
the obtuse politicians
on TV and radio–
accelerate past
another smoking ruin
growing darker, turn
on your lights, get to
the little city by noon.

KA Rees #46 - Filthy Hide remixed

Filthy Hide remixed

With lyrics from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds & words from the Mayor of Glen Innes, Carol Sparks

I never lied

When I called Scott Morrison son of coal,

Or that other minister up in Queensland who makes money

digging holes. I never lied when I rang

the hotline to report a government of fire bugs

fire thugs slack jaws slick with fuel load,

while we wait for policy they double down

say no policy the fault of grass, trees, scattered leaves

surely better cut for matchsticks to stick into boxes

for green voters, lost lost to the fires.

Politicians unafraid to melt our wealth deliver us ashes

but they say it’s the latte sipping brigade—

though the same numbers of people in the city

and country worry about climate change

and they outweigh the naysayers. But like a moth

that enters the flame there’s only the one way—

to go down with wood and wire

A truth for this truth. We weren’t the ones who lied.