i can remember you smoking. the yakitori
diner warm light in narita. confessing
that my heartbeat feels uncomfortable.
consonants skipping, fetishising language,
realising repeatedly that i am mostly
mechanical. all told there is no irony. i cannot
see the cinema, folding into place, melting
quickly. the subway thrums & pulses. inside
i flip the flipped picture. i can remember
you smoking, end day light bristling off
beige asakusabashi height. this city tows
memory out to sea, knotting fingers in
hair, skin lapping salt against the sides.
i’ll go snowboarding later, face first lips split
on an icicle. you smile through two degrees
of separated feet, an arms length apart,
a spin of the globe away. i can remember
you smoking, disappearing into the sky.
back home perth bursts & simmers in
summer, stars play elevator love letter
& serena relays it wasn’t worth being there.
yosuke & i climb sunshine city to find
high lights red through blurred glass blinking
sofia copolla style. in akihabara with adrian
searching for shock value & finding
male only 18 plus four floors up from
one piece paraphernalia & variations
on totoro plushie. outside the road reels
bass notes, tides of talk, fresh chalk on
fingers, an answer i shouldn’t have given
to follow olivia’s question. i can remember
you smoking. the truth ruins everything
when it dies. electrons in a severed wire.
the trains the trains the trains. the time.
there needs to be a circuit here. a self
reinforced trajectory. the blood of the pacific
current. a cold & foggy morning. reciting
the years calender. my language won’t
live forever. come back to this one later.
i am invading. i am america. i am
a remake of godzilla. i am cliches coming
true at shibuya’s famous crosswalk. i am
the english language labelled version.
i am bill murray; scarlett johansson.
the disney fish market day dissolving.
i am words. i am nothing. nine
floors of shirts neon through me,
regularity guaranteed. i feel it
rumble under my feet. these tunnels
are well worn. i can remember you
smoking. i love you haemoglobin.
this oxygen packs endorphins. it’s
3am, again. karaoke. we had beer & warm
sake. there is no word for fuck, the
closest swear is shitty. you swore
the great gatsby still holds up.
you grab my shirt & pull me. when
you kiss me everything shakes
in & out of focus. my head moshes
into morning. my voice gives out.
i can remember you smoking. it’s
shitty cold in narita. you americans
order so much food & eat
all of it. this i laugh about later
to no-one in particular.
- 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