Got hold of a time machine

and went back.

I left the course of events alone

but ate from an unbroken dish

and turned up at that party

in a paddock toward Gumble

talked to people who were alive

and happy, but not surprised, to see me

leaning against a Subaru Brumby, sober

no need to worry

knowing that, in the future, things will be worse, and better.
They get maggoted on beer or beam n coke

while I watch the creamy paprika-coloured coals

and wait for the sun to rejoin us

to shine up the long damp winter grass

growing outside the circle made with

fire, bales, vehicles, our feet and sleeping places.
The warm sun, I walk toward it, slowly

my feet not quite touching the ground

and the earth spins faster, faster, beneath me, it’s a blur

I’m coming back

to now

here I am

did you even notice I was gone?