MIRAGE

faint sun
through the window
picks out and illuminates
a young woman's tears

another rental generation
temporary as the stiffness
frost-edged grass sings to the senses
outside in the park

lawns in winter recess
with the odd crater
where blackbirds have dug out grubs

the sides of tame volcanoes
hang green
under still grey sky

the mirror contains
another room
similar to this one
where no one ever lived

words in reverse
are hard to read there
gestures are sinister

and at the door beyond
the cold waits to come in

THE NEW WORLD

after the
culinary exhibition

a flock of
blue plastic orange peelers

lies on our kitchen table
in various poses

like individuals of a
recently discovered species

awaiting description
and classification

UNDER THE FRIDGE

marbles the cat's
pawed too far

stray breakfast flakes
board game counters

coins of dis-
continued denominations

an apostle spoon
unbending

and inexplicably
the manuscript of this poem

ANSWER

let the claimant
argue his boundary
and the folds
in the land from this
to the next river

his ancestors
masked with wood
are sentinels
worn by the elements
to no one's language

over a hundred seasons
paths have hardened
familiar hillsides
birds echoed through
have been cleared to the sky

we come here to taste salt
each summer
walking from the core
of the island
where all flavours are fire

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