Published in Inspired Education·PinnedMember-onlyHow I (Eventually) Crossed the Bridge Into Teaching, Part 1or — why am I here? — Have you ever played this mind game after achieving a major life goal — getting the first job, finding your partner, having a child, paying off the house? Be honest. After such milestones, have you not asked what’s next? The very existence of the question shows that milestones are only…Inspired Education9 min readInspired Education9 min read
Published in The POM·PinnedMember-onlyTo One Passed OverA request — The dead don’t die. They look on and help. - D.H. Lawrence speak as I dodge a taxi coming at me down the alley are you inside? speak so I never lose hope because we’re still linked by a long silver thread — you sailing up there red kite speak…The Pom1 min readThe Pom1 min read
Published in Literary Impulse·May 31Member-onlyWish MachineThe kite poem — Grab the wooden reel and a new kite. Bang the back door. Run. The wind is up. Let loose the yellow diamond high above a stretch of park, acacia grove and gums. This flimsy tissue bird has two cane struts. You bought it at the City Show last summer from an improv station-wagon tailgate store. These kites…Poetry3 min readPoetry3 min read
Dec 25, 2021Member-onlySound StageA sonnet about love and wind chimes — Let’s say this is our sound-stage by the sea. We’ve tracked the wind to bring us back again. Speaking in wooden tongues, wind tonks a name - this bamboo wind chime tinkles in the tree. Here coconuts are cake for you and me. If only I could monkey up my game and…The Writers Centre1 min readThe Writers Centre1 min read
Published in Scuzzbucket·Dec 3, 2021Member-onlyClock of DeathFrom a verse novel in progress — Separation Your absence has gone through me Like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color. ― W.S. Merwin At 8 in the morning, at exactly 8 in the morning, they wheel her through swing doors, banging like a poltergeist. The irritated doctor in a white coat says: “Why you came…Scuzzbucket3 min readScuzzbucket3 min read
Published in Literary Impulse·Nov 18, 2021Member-onlyChild WhispererA sonnet about step-parenting — She remarried in a hopeful year, changing the pattern, thread by thread. She sewed on angels like a prayer for clinging girls who shared a bed. They slept beneath the quilt of heaven. The mauve bedspread hid their cold dread of losing mum to a new dad here. …Literary Impulse1 min readLiterary Impulse1 min read
Published in No Crime in Rhymin’·Nov 17, 2021Member-onlyChinatown BoogieA sung poem — Chinatown is bargain price, kitty cats that show and tell, hunan hotpot, chicken rice, roast chestnuts aunties sell. Chinatown, in Chinatown. Chinatown is a calendar, starfish, sea horse, ginseng stall, butcher shops, dried snake vendor, peacock lights that blink and call. Chinatown, in Chinatown. New year street…No Crime In Rhymin1 min readNo Crime In Rhymin1 min read
Published in Scrittura·Nov 17, 2021Member-onlyThe Vampire of Boat QuayHollywood hasn’t got the market cornered on vampires — As bumboats putter by the river shore tourists walk like wallets of fresh meat. “Good evening, come try some Indian.” They think I’m just a local pavement tout but I’m of older stock. Before your spice trade Vampire Inc. had spread across the globe. We sailed here riding shotgun on the necks of immigrants…Scrittura3 min readScrittura3 min read
Published in Sky Collection·Nov 15, 2021Member-onlyKrishna and the Kusum TreeTrees that have stories — Kusum, kusum, your name is smooth and shiny as shellac from the red lac bug feeding off your sap. You are the colour of Radha’s sari, passion’s rang,* Makassar oil of old making, engorged — a tongue in love with the lips of the lover of gardens and rendezvous. Krishna…Sky Collection3 min readSky Collection3 min read
Published in Scrittura·Nov 14, 2021Member-onlyDark SongAfter a COVID death — I am sending you my voice from the zero of my mouth, I am sending you my voice although you have flown south. I am sending you my voice that flaps with hungry birds, I am sending you my voice as a map inside these words. I’m sending you my…Scrittura1 min readScrittura1 min read
