Williamstown

By | 1 June 2014

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

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