please sit in the chair in the marked red square
please wait in your car
please stand behind the red line
please sit in the chair in the marked red square
in the grey room with the grey floor with the darker grey flecks
in the chair in the red square
they are quiet and polite behind masks
in the square grey room with the small square mirror
outside the red square with the chair
she leans in with the thermometer
with the finger clip for pulse and oxygen
on my finger in the red square with the chair
I answer questions and wait
glasses fogged above the mask
in the chair in the red square
met at the door with mask and sanitiser
please stand behind the red line
behind the perspex barrier
behind the mask and shield
the nurse asks questions then takes me
to the grey room with the grey chair in the red square
I have assigned each finger a purpose
right little finger is for glasses
which slide again and again
left little finger is to scratch my neck
in the chair in the red square
in the grey room with the square mirror
with the sink and WHO poster
on how to wash your hands
each square for a motion
I push up my glasses with my right little finger
my glasses fog
I wait for the doctor
in the chair in the red square
behind the door ajar to the nurse walking
to meet a patient
please stand behind the red line
one patient goes past
please sit in the chair in the red square
in another grey room
with a chair and a red square
like this with its drawers closed
sealed with cable ties
with cupboards and a square mirror
and a trolley with a green taped tray with CleanX
and a red taped tray with the thermometer
that came near me
with the finger clip that touched me
the doctor comes in using his foot
to open the door enough
to close the door enough
to ask his questions through the space suit
I can barely hear him through the fully sealed mask
barely see him though my fogged glasses
he stands on my deaf side and asks me to look forward
take my mask off and open my mouth
in the chair in the red square
he looks without light and swabs
I re-cover only my mouth
and the nasal swab goes in
as I sit on the chair in the red square
a toilet brush to the brain
says my sister later
her official medical opinion
treatment – hot toddy
when I am far from the chair in the red square
I cough once with the mask back on
my glasses fog as I slide them up with my right pinkie
my thumb and forefinger are for the mask
for the sanitiser, for surfaces that are not me
when the doctor leaves he uses his foot
to open the door enough
to close the door enough
to the grey room with the square mirror
with the chair in the red taped square
that must be so bare to be easy to clean
with its bare grey chair in the square
I wonder if the doctor must change everything
clean everything
before he sees the man next door
who has waited in another chair
in a red square
who will exit like me
from the other side of the building
in his mask with his information
who will drive home
close his door
and wait for word
as the next person arrives and is asked
please sit in the chair in the marked red square
please wait in the car
please stand behind the red line
please sit in the chair in the marked red square
- 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