Dead Women in Old Stories
Above the hills a starry slate the lights}
on the coast a necklace weight
of faded-flower
yellows
moonlight suspends the tides
the lap
& undertow abrading salty folds
a sea bird’s skull shells silvered wood
underfoot the stuff of frail
philosophies here is the heart love seared
regret
in the haze before the hills & spears
of cypress dividing
moonlight from the dark
how else to assimilate the amethyst fires
the women dancing in the groves
their cries
above the harbour a deeper
black
Dispersal Patterns of Blood in Water
Lake in late light still surface
haemoglobin
kimono settled shore-folds
yesterday etherised today
healing
every dream & then
this deeper sleep
cured where threads of blood
aimless endings
scar shadow
corpuscles unravelled
fed red
along the vein’s path
suicide in Switzerland’s
a lifestyle choice like smiley
bleached veneers
across the Alps rich soil
of dreams deep enough
for graves
for me this lake still centre
boat oars knock
racked
clouds racing repeated across the lake face
the blade’s weight
marking deep water
soundless
red on black
Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Non-fat Decaf Organic Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino
Staked staves
circle huts roofs
grass tiered
the women walk bush walk dust walk
dead heat kilometres
newborns buried first day
south Sudan three hundred midwives
population five million
a girl sitting in red dirt shade miscarried
this morning
rises slowly
to tend her herd
clean water half a day’s walk
who grinds the grain
the hollow stones
chaff in the wind
