Inside the chateau of crimson knickerbockers
We hopscotch through doorways full of children
One hundred lashes
And a wink from the chariot master
Hiding inside the gift box
Jack-in-the-box
Vegemite on white bread toast
No crust
I don’t recall exactly when I wanted to
Because I want to meet you
Because I’ve never met youI am the Oxen
Dancing in the fertile dreams of yawning furrows
Blink, Blink
Hey Mr.
With the toucan marvels
Hide me behind the bird song lullabies
I promise to brush my teeth
You’re always sharpening your pencil
Lead is heavy
Hot pink firecrackers
And you fly around the city in your wagon
Howling incandescent hymns out onto the porches
Horticultural snobbery
You taught me a flower is the enigmatic blossoming
Of reform
You have hair that fished in the lake
And feet that held on
I thinkI make kite boat silhouettes
I walk great distances
And I see you
Hugging the chair legs
You hold up a nursery
Demanding all of the diamond hydrangeas
For me
But all I wanted was Bobby from Arkansas
Falling asleep
Broad merino clarinet shoulders
You play me the winds of Autumn
Auburn snow grasshoping between the leaves
Succulents
Fingertops
You are close as ever
Because I want to meet you
Because I’ve never met youYou bought me a kite yesterday
Hold my hand
You tell me to look towards the Moon
Follow the needle string
Somewhere between here
And there
You are always under my chin
Look up
Patching melodies that the mountains pluck
I ride on your shoulders from Yosemite to Strathbogie
Your feet tell a story
Size 11 bootstrap braille
Pine needles
Salt bush
You and me tasted it allI ride the ghost train to school
Route 106
Along the smoky starfish coast
Winding down and pop
The merry-go-round grows off the tall window statues
Packed Tupperware lunchbox
When you get home we’ll dance the foxtrot
No tracks at home
Crouching in the quilted muffling of my lucidity
You bring extra cushions
Bright yellow ladybirds
Hazy blue fabrications
Keep me warm
Because I want to meet you
Because I’ve never met youI am in love with Frankie
Enamel cups
Candles
And sunsets at Margret’s with Tupelo Honey
Too much red wine
Rushing blood
We are never cold at night
You tell us of the time you went droving
Digging your spurs into the rugged heart of the desert
To muster cleanskin Mickey bulls
Old Murray pulling bores
He’d come back stained forever
And you wake up with the stock camp
Saddle Atlas
And ride off to the next contract
From Heartbreak to Avon Downs
They’d see you at dawn
Akubra saluting the bush godsThat’s why I live in the treetops
In the granite
And the gum nuts
Whistling into the leafy tundra
When the Sun rears its head
Because I want to meet you
Because I’ve never met youI am over
And under
My floral jungle bouquet youth
And the river is running with breast milk
I am in love with Frankie
And little HankBut what should I tell him
That you told me
Because I’ve never met you
And you’ve never met me.
- 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