July 5th

The shining

When things are wet they shine
roads shine
leaves shine
grass shines
these otherwise dull things
take on life

Flutes

Flutes of flowers
on a Eucalyptus tree
muted yellow tubes
with thin fingers
ready to catch pollen
and bees
ready to mate

Sun Shower

Just a hint of rain
not really enough to stop me continuing
but enough to make me notice
and maybe take a moments shelter
underneath a historic Elm
watching it drift down
it’s not like it’s falling vertical
but being carried on drfiting winds
almost going sideways
lit up by the sun’s rays
that leak through a canopy
of naked winter branches

Squadron

Trio of aircraft
flying past
Harvards
I don’t get the fascination
such a low lumbering elephant in the air
why do people fly them?
Worse than a Dakota
in my opinion
trying to think why they might be doing a fly-by
today
4th of July – eleven A.M.
not like we celebrate independence day or anything
the radial motors chuggle along
their sub harmonic frequencies
bounce off the glassed facade of the hospital
and hit my rib cage like a kick drum.
What was it like during world war 2?
when those sounds might have meant
death
or injury
loss of home and family
the motors of death
whirring away
through history

Reading Journeys

Sitting at the front,
a double decker
in a bubble curved round like sixties furniture
ducking my head as the branches hit the windscreen

Reading bus station
a cathedral with a choir of deisel engines
humming their song of journey
and miles
and passengers

walkways and steps in rough concrete
leading up to the shopping centre
Marks and Sparks
Tescos or its equivalent
being dragged around
feeling boredom
holding on until the ‘treat’
the toyshop
rows of model aircraft
in colourful boxes
waiting to be bought and built

cups of tea in the Marks and Sparks cafe
or was it Woolworths
eggy bread, pastries

3.20 Train journey

Behind me two lads
private school I reckon
recognise each other and start chattin’
the conversation is a little halted
they don’t know each other too well
might have played football
the conversation revolves around football
“who you playin’ for”
“Are ya on your way to trainin”
it runs out of puff – the conversation
then a new question
“Yyou got a girlfriend?”
“No too much trouble”
“I got a few girls on the go,
but nothing serious though”
‘too much trouble’ he says,
“what about you?”
“No, not bothering”

An Indian girl
deep South I suspect
her skin
chocolatey black but her eyes are blacker
the cliched’ cinder
in each one
but she radiates a beauty
and knowing
attractive to engage in

The rock star wannabe
hair spiked in crazy waves
tall
thin
gangly
with a leather jacket
and a mobile
attached like a limpet mine
to his ear
setting up the next deal
he knows about style
and fashion
and what matters
could he give me some lessons?
might be a bit too old for that

Down the carriage is a face and eyes
I’ve seen in a hundred posters and films
he’s not the famous one
but looks just like him
with blonde curls
and straight ahead eyes
he’s talking to a girl
just friends I think
but then at Richmond
his doppleganger gets on
it’s almost like looking at television
when it looks at itself
a reflection
is appearing down the carriage

Part of me thinks I should buy the Taylor Swift CD
to assess the current level of production
to see how to make my drums sound ‘right’
and get those guitars real chunky
I resolve to go to J.B. Hi Fi
that afternoon.

As I walk into Collins Place
there’s a ‘discount CD store’
selling the very record I want
for fifteen dollars
is this a coincidence?
there’s also other ‘classics’
James Taylor’s greatest hits
E.L.O
Billy Joel
Linda Rhondstadt
are these all parallel imports?
How can they sell them cheap?
I buy a heap
hmmmm.

I pass the shoe repair man
a key making machine is grinding
and behind his right ear
hang pairs of shoes
their faces
their soles
pointing outwards
they shine
shiny soles
I wonder what a shiny SOUL would look like?
untainted
holy
pure.

On the Street

A woman looking very forward
knowing where she’s going
running the footpath
like a teflon bullet
shooting through the crowds

A drummer on the corner
Elizabeth and Flinders
making use
of garbage can lids
ice cream containers
anything he can whack
to produce a noise

Sunday July 12

Sunday morning
chilly
the air has a bushy smell
vegetation
the whole suburb seems sleepy
like a country town

I pass an old Scwheppes sign
in pale orange
someone’s stuck them on an old outhouse
there’s also a topper ice cream advert
in light blue

Housing commission buildings
in the midst of Prahran
now in the middle of gentrification
what if-
I I had no money
couldn’t work
my current rental ran out
and that was my only option?

There’s a fellow with a box
it’s resting on the pavement
I think about helping
after I’ve gone past
he looks kind of lost
might have an intellectual disability
am I being uncaring
callous
just waking by
or is it not in me ‘naturally’

A girl on a bike brushes by
must have had the same thought as me
retraces her tracks
asks him if he needs help
but is refused
maybe I would have got the same answer
maybe he likes it that way
what does it say about
‘don’t get involved’?

OLD Prahran

Around Hawksburn
it feels like I’m in a country town
a lot of old buildings
in orangey brick
big blocks of land
fancy windows
some two story places
with elaborate wrought iron fences
pointy elongated pyramids on top
like witches hats with the top cut off
an old church
grand buildings
these give way to modern blocks of flats
along Cromwell road
but there’s a few old places
crumbling into ruin
Kenjil
Bruthen
names embossed in fading stone
gutters running down
front yards in disrepair
probably a student rental
probably worth a million dollars each
land value Only
or maybe they’re heritage listed