Your father’s tie
has come undone.
Please tie his tie.
Your father is
unravelling,
please take his hand
and tie his tie.
Your father is
a machine.
He is an engineer,
he wears a dust coat
and high-vis colours.
Your father is
a man
who rarely wears a tie,
will you tie his tie
and hold his hand?
Your father
watches the street
from the veranda,
staring at nothing,
swaying in the wind
and leaning on his bad hip.
Please tie him down.
Your father brings
a plate of cut up fruit
to your room.
He forgets to say
I love you
in so many words.
He rarely laughs,
your father,
he smiles with his eyes.
Please tie his tie.
He will not ask.
Your father
gives you fifty dollars
when he remembers,
and tells you to
put it to petrol.
He bends down
so you can reach around
his neck
and tie his tie.
Kiss his head
like he used to do to you
when you were young.
Slide silk and linen
around his neck,
pulling the collar straight,
and look into his face.
Notice how your eyes
share the same space
and colour.
You have watched him grow
and grey,
tucking you in every night
and rising for work
at 4 a.m. daily, as routine
as the sun.
Please tie his tie,
the way he has dressed you
since the day
you arrived
bare
and found home in his arms.
You knot the tie
pressed flush
against his button-up.
He looks
so small,
your father.
You kiss his cheek,
and he smiles.
You look so handsome,
you tell him.
Would you tie his tie
for the rest of his life,
when his hands have crippled
and his back has folded in?
He has orbited you
for so long.
Please stay nearby
and hold him close.
He will not ask.
But when you see
it come undone
do tie his tie,
please tie his tie,
keep his tie tied.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones