IMPRESSIONS, BONDI

on afternoon sand

bare skin gulps

the last baking hour

a shorely breeze

blows a spray mane streaming

behind

headlong plunging breakers

up on the still hot Promenade

an OW-ing toddler

barefoot trots after mother

and beachside cars

                             begin

their evening exodus –

make way for the afterwork

                                       joggers

here

          I am

I make myself

an eye

an ear

make of me taste and smell

and am

          a moment

finite but unbounded

A GLASS, DARKLY

It never sleeps. It is

      what wakes you

trembling nights weeping

      while

dreams melt in darkness. It’s your

sweat soaked sheets

your churning empty bed;

the rain against your window

soft, insistent, constant

each drop a murmur in

       reason’s diluvial roar.

Drag it to vertiginous highs

       or bury it

in anonymous hotels stick it

      with a needle try and sink it in

a sea of booze;

only when sated will it

      vanish

a pick-up hustled you for drinks;

an evanescent tracery

etched across a stormy night;

an unfinished poem

in the memory of a monstrous computer.

A GLASS, DARKLY (II)

It’s your mast-lashed arms

your unstopped ears

and the sirens’ song

It’s strapping on a smile –

being strong for others til

you’re left with only yourself

– til

the edifice implodes

beneath

its own facade’s weight

It’s rituals and rules – your rent

paid straightway the cheque clears

to push

          from reach

that always beckoning

overdose

It’s holding on until

your fingers finally break

The voice that whispers

Fuck it –

jump

(Seventeen Syllables About) REALITY

Perfect we all want.

Sometimes love is just being

fucked up together.

THE MEMORY OF OBJECTS

when the mercury slides

and rain

          sets in a few days

the bedspread

          in the damp recalls

our sex

SEA POEM

Wish I could tell

                   with words

                   my thoughts when

first our eyes locked

that Saturday summer night

but it was only sounds

the instantly irrelevant crowd

the engines and ocean beneath us

echoing

          rumbling

                   whooshing like

the air out of my lungs

and one

solitary

deafening

heartbeat.

WALK

Here’s to them

the jokers

who smile at the world and wink

                                                          because

the world does not deserve

          to see

                   their tears

See them

the pretenders

those who know how to hide

everything but their souls

the brilliant fools

the gamblers

the diligently mad

                             who build us

castles in the air

                             and then

hurl themselves from the walls

the faithful ones

the lovers

giving the whole heart only

                                                when

they give their hearts at all

the lonely ones

the left

the ones who wonder why

                                      they’re easy

to walk away from

the strong ones

the unbroken

the ones who mainline caffeine

to keep another beast

at bay

sure they just can’t do this anymore

                                                          then

doing it one more day

Here’s to them all

the living

the life.