Poems published in an Australian-Romanian collaboration of 2020 co-ordinated by Dorel Cosma, Daniel Ionita, Zorin Diaconsecu and Menut Maximinian.
Bashō in the Suburbs
a bullnose veranda grazes over
tessellated tiles and tuck pointing
camellias gardenias and begonias
throng the fence-line there is a music
of the throat in the concrete
~
cars buses trucks all ants of a kind
in endless procession stop give way
detour no through road instructions
for confusion we so immerse ourselves
in motion stillness has grown furtive
~
the crow is the smartest of birds
it sings of distance even when nearby
the kookaburra crowns the neighbour’s stinkpipe
with a peaceful ruckus it is pointless to quest
for certainty when one thing may mean another
Lost for Words
(Intamooga/Black-Footed Tree Rat)
1.
a forest is felled
its sawdust ploughed
under and fed into crops
or plaqued into housing
an empty tree hollow
with a once north-of-life aspect
cindered or colonised
by canola or architraves
is three times absent
2.
tinder and kindle are now bereft
of fire of rapture they subsist
in apps and devices
and falter into seldom speech
3.
loss inhabits many syllables
all carry a label
some count more than others
