cul de sacs of desire
excised from the torn corner
of a new map
cyclone fences rubber
embers sick aerosoled
on the underside of
an overpass bootleg eminem
on a tapedeck the moon's
bohemian plots a
defection insert coins
grand theft mac fields
get points for joyriding
counter jumping crystal
meth transactions paint
bottles bouqeting
in storm water steal
flowers for teacher
infidelities of boredom
end them with arrows
days stocking stretch
like summer squatting
on the district a drunk uncle
all roads return there is no
shell beach dress up
for the strip mall
download ringtones
the polyphonic theme
tune for luke luke
and the mac boys
i'd rather be anywhere
but here boost a BMW
three suburbs over
a modified steel ruler
and yesterday's information
get away like a page
fourteen sidebar story
mark turf by the factories
hughes and helmsford
take the call the future
is a frightened horse
these stories resolve
themselves in a matrix
of chance velocity loose
gravel whispers in
the weatherboards
life's crumpled sculpture
injected through trees
picket crosses spring up
resilient GM crops
sweeping the bends of the
nation in mac fields
rumour spreads like weeds
a mother crying
through brick sound
escapes like a tiny gas
smell it wafting off
rooftops torn envelopes
gathering on top of a
bin do your best to
forget tomorrow fathers
flare like comets
there is nowhere
further than here
sedition gathers in
the gutter leaves or
rubbish rocks fly
riot police manoeuvre
night sets the kingdom
flint hard unmalleable
stars sing no songs
broken neon unhinged
in a black sky enforced
limited conscription
canopens 4AM
the cats don't squeal
the flag drops thistled
biceps princes of
the welfare barbarians
this is the end of a long siege
the good bread
will be broken
28.0: SECRET CITIES
Poetry Editor David PraterReleased July 2008
Index of Poems
Contributor Notes
Cover Image: Kathleen Asjes
The first in another binary pairing, SECRET CITIES was guest edited by David Prater, and foreshadowed the all-round breakthrough that would be PASTORAL.





