Entropy of the abyss

Clamp down

Cut outs

Half price

Harlots

Jigsaw screws tightened

Envelopes envelope eavesdroppers eyelets

Whatever happened to the good old days

Old ways

Old and wise and tired

Damp cloths clothe cancers

Sideways seesaws and others

Question about the past

Story about the future

I’m sorry if I haven’t asked

How you going today?

What about the watchers

Washers

Wasted diners dinner plates

Penguin pies

Sandwich salads

Over developed image is unclear

Fall slowly on fingertips

The end will last

The now will stop

The forever gets forgotten amongst the ashes

Breathe deep the carbon dioxide mix

Made lovingly from clean coal

Plant a tree to outlive yourself

Dance alone in the dark

The question of mushrooms comes up from time to time

Dig in and shut up

The mammoth groans

The ice melts

We sink down

Deeper

Dear

Do

Jelly slice

Underbelly elipsis sits
strung under and over
twisted with undeveloped curses
enveloped in a sea of gold

Hexagonal waitress
stretched and twisted beside
an undeniable melted secret
switched on and start anew

And the belching lady sings
an the subtle rainout howls
and the collective harmony
falls down to the floor

Rhodes Rooftop

elongating distances between limbs
bouncing puppies
jaded cats

bountiful eloquence with mother tongue
and oceans filled with shattered glass

disrupted homeward-bound
tangerine oranges
the cusp of Byzantine times
handful of Roman stones
bedroom of drying clothes

hair pins greet hair cuts
pelted thigh
wheat beer
sugar's too sweet
and then the clocks change

Car on trailer on car

Patrick the truck with a tail like a pig
Bike riders in freo wearing helmets and lyrcra
In Scarborough they're barefoot and fancy free
Black trees green tufts and a party of not black boys, grass trees
That's where the emu pie shop used to be
Orange skin
White hair
Not enough mixer
"Fwee potato cakes"
Snot coloured car
Kookaburra sits on the old grapevine
And we'll nearly make it by seven
Hazardous waste barrel back of ute
Emus are not very flighty
Kangaroos in the top paddock
You willn't
You wilt
Just saying things that were said or sawn

desirability sideways step

the edge of acceptability

teasing out the rules

to fit fortune

fleeting chances

flighty saturdays

and the chance of a come down

dancing on the edge

of society

bending rules until just before they break

using them to swing

fly

leap

into just un-forbidden land

creeping on the edge

of inevitability

it always was

and is

and will be

as is written

the curse is blessed

the silent loud

a life unlived, unloved

crawling through thorns

of instability

escape worth the torture

friendship worth the burden

hardship

trials

lucky county

foods on the table

breathe in

breathe out

phone call’s a comin’

K are S

Gotta crack down fix up knuckle round

unbounded madmen yesteryears’ best friend

unguarded grill spills little white pills

imaged inauguration and then

crown spills at the feet of a prophet

ain’t no profit in truths

Healing fingers practice havoc

routines one two bow

sit fix quick flex flew flight

gourd

fellows in ships

like wise guys finish last

Pop funk rabbit in pursuit

crack's in the street corners

highway connection human disconnect

dark purposeless world

sunglasses required

Something’s gonna happen

then it doesn’t

86 word story

The balloon is passed from man with painted smile to boy with painted fangs. Small hand grips rope tightly. Sparse grass watches on, unswaying. The balloon bobs, oblivious to heat or crowds or sound, reacting only to the movements of its master. Fake vampire with real grin dances along, mimicked in slow motion by the balloon. A stone in the path. Stumble. Shocked hand responds, releases. Wide mouth horror unseeing eyes watch as the balloon takes flight. Up. Up. Tears drag face paint to the earth.