she saw him

moving through the factories

hacking at the grasses

trailing the weary way

The Creature Would Look In

from the window sill

still and focussed
careful and clear

The creature would watch
and consider the scene

til a bell
told the end
of the day

When a little friend was absent

from school

a desk empty
chair forlorn

a strange grief would
descend on the room

an unconscious
mourning process

visions of their
head and hands

busy at a
muted learning

And a gentle
muted yearning

would stop
and stay
inside

Here (Harriet's Garden)

Here we have an
upturned bowl of
stars

The neighbour's tree
overseeing everything

Patient fences
lining our laughter

Here we have an
unplanned kind of
heaven

Here we have a
holy set of
hours

Middle Footscray

the Station
raises a red hand
to the blue night
closes its heart
to all cars
and lets
the Train
roll in

SLEPT IN (late for work)

You can't reason with your
sleeping self

The deals don't hold and the plans fold
like doonas

If only I'd learnt this simple truth
sooner

I'd have known not to trust me
again

In Footscray

there are warm
laundries that
hum with
jumpers