she, with mouth gaping, pisswet eyes
open wide, not entirely disbelieving,
gives him a big 'up you' finger sign
& offers her usual string of oaths...
he also leaves behind a thin refugee-looking
Indian man who's waiting in the shade
of a lampost --
'we've been told not to pick her up,' the driver
yells above the passenger's protestations,
'sorry, I didn't see the other guy'
South Island
down south
The South Pole
Southland -
south where Scott & Oates went
& never returned,
their tiny bodies ground to glass
under millions of tons of ice & howling
gales, like sand on
St Kilda beach:
south of the South Pole
the back of grandma's place
where the bantams scratch for
grubs --
.
beyond Invercargill & Campbell
Island where shipwrecked 19th c. sealers lived
on seagulls & dressed in sealskins
for 2 years, till they were rescued by
the crew of a scientific ship doing
research on weather patterns & the habits
of sealice
It's winter
though you wouldn't believe it:
(18 deg c.)
An incredibly fit, healthy couple
pushing a pram
jog up the hill past me --
not a drop of sweat on their faces -
they must have long, unweary fucks the
heartrate never above 40
& going down...
Down a bank off the path
someone has dumped a mattress
& sheets --
some supermarket bags of rubbish