1
low native scrub on the promontory

palm-ends splattered with birdshit
upper decks of ships

luminous in the Bay 
cloud from the northeast gathers,

the poems dry up, 
at the edge of the military base, leaves hang

awaiting scent release
the closest gum, a scribbly trunk,

red-tipped branches, 
amid the foliage, bunches

of spherical green pods


2
turbulence on Port Phillip,

Hobson’s Bay out of sight, behind the station,

Corio behind the football stands
                                 anamometers spin
three khaki trucks

two yellow outboards



cirrostratus as punctuation


3
rusted locks face south and east
only the upper level cognisant of light
the rail draped with spiderwebs
a loose strip of flywire
fur jacket on a collapsed settee
The Oxford Book of Jurisprudence


4
a kite, bird-shaped

above the depot
above a protected cove

of black swans
vessels silhouetted

seaward.
the brilliant device

perturbs local birds
hovering low

over the parade ground
an asphalt park’s

empty space,
wire fence disappears

over a hump, on which
the great one falls

entangled on barbs. 
over the battery

gulls rejoice
the raptor, unpicked

lifts off, then plummets
gains altitude again,

then it’s gone


5
low coastal eucalypts, ti-tree, palms (introduced)

bend with the wind
figures leave the park

waves flatten
lights, port side

of a monolith
shades of grey-blue

above and below
an odd chromaticism

ship shape under cloud
chatter of settled birds

upstairs, under billiard lights