You do not read or write our language
loop the yarn of wool around your neck
legs out straight
on the chocolate and beige swirled carpet
I am child witness to your domestic reign
in the slide and pull of stitches
that do not drop
in the click and rub of steel knitting needles
a secret language of gesture and rhythm
a sovereign state behind a paling fencewhite sheets catch the wind
sloped backyard planted into steppes
tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers
prickly curl of watermelon vine
the cultivation of fallow ground
in the new world
to ward doubtsheets off the line stretched
folded like pastry rolled thin
smoothed over
the pull of excess skirt hem
fat caught in the oilcloth
mercury risingicon of St George, dragon impaled
watches
candle lit
a trusted house sitter
your hands workworn
changing milky brine solilo/солило
pickling cabbage, green tomatoes
air tinged with the smell of vinegar
like an embalmersolicitously you worked your crafttogether we read the pictures from
little golden books
old Macdonald’s farm
kikurigu petle/кикиригу петле….
Three billy goats gruff
Trap trup trap trup/трап труп трап труп
faithfully you taught me nashe/наше
amongst the snapdragons and camelias
pulling weeds quietly planting petunias
your knife sharpened on the back step
a chook that pecks deserves a knife….
doused with boiling water
plucked feathers fly
blood spattered grassin the practice of small things
between village and suburb
around the movement of
earth from red to black
your words were
a broth of microminerals
Translations from MacedonianSolilo /солило – brine
Nashe/наше – our language
Kikirigu Petle /кикиригу петле – cock-a-doodle-do
- 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