He pulls out to the wrong
side that morning, doubleparked
trucks tense him up
so dangerous, meat-hooked
carcasses, latched-open doors,
chilled pink in him more
than risk gritted in his teeth as
he overtakes, still he
drives heavily,
wrestles left, tyres abandon
pneumatics, grinds around
a corner too close, struggles
through the forty zone past
the high school – aren’t we all
exhausted
and over-heated
teenagers wishing
to do nothing while the world
misjudges?
We ruin our way
along the streets, how much space we take to which we are not entitled, with paper
and gum and all that language falling off us as we go
outside the bakery,
another van unfolds, trays of wheat
and yeast and bicarb and salt
cooked up around lower grades of fruit
asphalt and diesel, next hazard
for through-traffic which is him
with his down- turned mouth and flexed
lips and urge to cry, inexplicable.
If only something would explode or
tear itself to pieces or if he could,
he’s too meticulous to do other
than drive.
He recomposes,intrusions built into little coddled streets
shaking the car this way, that, build character,
someone in council must’ve watched a lot
of stretched-metal cartoons. His car so fragile
as to scratch up
under
falling
leaves.
Trucks everywhere, nowhere
safe enough, carparks
too small for anyone.
How has it come to uncountable boxes back and forth along the highways,
this to there and that to here, so many lives taken with windscreens and squinting
and noise, he winds down the window where he
shouldn’t among the petrol stations where
fumes hurl and swirl like discount vouchers
If only he could glitch out of here for enough time
to inhale some other place before driving onwards.
- 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