there’s a bee sting that draws dave’s palm
back he waves it out there in the open air and then
sucks on the puff of jelly skin though you know that’s
not gonna help dave is
burly big his beard’s big
it’s a nest a nettle a smoked out mass
of comfort wood whisky oak and i
put my whole head in it when i was ten
big pat on the back big dave
now let’s get back
to the literature revolutiondad dad revolution dad
wasn’t always so tatty but
it wasn’t a woman mum
that made him come undone
it was just the passing of life yeah
just the waking up finally
just the finally seeing
he smelt
of sweat and skin but when
it’s your own blood it smells sweet
smells like heat like summer like here
they come again these men
and one of them’s holding court
always hoping hoping
for a change for anything
don’t blame the wrong thing
something’s changing that’s for sure i’m sixteenput on a tie
just to see them start
they’re too far gone
it’s the first-class stuff from mark
from his own
grown in his own back yard before the pigs got it
put my lips
thin pink twigs on suzie’s
twenty years older than me to the day
she doesn’t even laugh
guess i have an irish tongue
i’ve swallowed the pamphlets whole
and suzie’s dad was chilean
or so the rumour goes so
she’s really real she knows her stuff she’s conscious
we never speak againi was moon-like then i was
pale and waiting
sat in the shade reading
they sat in the sun in the grass in the middle of the park
someone’s got a guitar nick
cave nick cave nick cave nick save
us tufts of belly hair blooming out of shirts
these old men these pink and shiny sacks going way back when
getting closer every day
to the sum to the truth to every one
not coming undone
i take off at a run
i circle the path i pant
no one comes after me
i rake the bulbs and yell
look at this fuckin fuckin
look at this country
a pauseapplause from the enclave
applause for the son
finally
a benediction howling his young lungs out
dad glows they’re my
friends they’re my friends in arms for life
and another thing sorry
the house is on wheels tonighta roach steals into
the hollowed out shell of a snail
i lower my head to the floor
fresh grass outside
the door
there’s hope tonight
if i set this place on fire
there’s truth
- 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