Monday, February 8, 2010

Channel Country Poem VIII


At night, with the airfeel thick, he lifts her arm

so she can feel him seeing

the salty blue lightning of her veins trickling

slowly beneath her skin.


This is a place of carpet-smell, of insects at windows,

of her dark ignoring eyes and his funny snuffling face.

In the channels, yabbies sift through soft mud

beneath massive grey clouds creased with black, coming over

immensely.


There is a mosquito hunting us in this room.

We hide beneath loose striped sheets, even in sleep

our heavy limbs angle to knots.

To be an adult is to realise you are never alone, though

always deeply lonely.


He is afraid the dogs he buried in the backyard

will some day come back barking.

She is watching for any sign of wakeness

and for the uncoupling of heat and air she knows

will cool the morning.



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