Canberra, Sydney and rural New South Wales

Australia Day

Any other day
Praise the thump in submerged ears
As your children bomb
​


Fasten your seatbelts
Cabin crew arm the doors
Stand by for takeoff

Middle aged uncle
In an ill-fitting straw hat
Escaping Christmas

Curious Yuletide
Antipodeans roasting 
In the UV rays
​
Departure gate bench
Endless material 
For Facebook haiku

Smoking area
If lung cancer's not enough
​Extinguising rain

Broken fingernail
An overturned trolley bag
Surly garbage men

Rear window open
Whoop-whooping of freeway wind
​A drop of cold rain

Crossing the river
Green of the Cumberland plain
Meets an endless sky

Crossing the river
Grown men in caps and hoodies
​Crying in their cars

The shadows lengthen
A commuter train rushes headlong
Into failing light

More walls and higher!
Ozone leaks into the train
As the tracks converge

A rite of passage
The city commute has become
Escaping to home

He flexes his pecs
Approaching the crowded beach
​Testing the waters

Green smells that chatter
Of holidays long ago
​Worn picnic tables

Forty one degrees
Shirtless men beat lobster chests
Their tempers flaring

Worse than useless fans 
Like drowning ballerinas
Lost my train of thought

Cast by city lights
Indeterminate colors
Flicker on dark waves

Bushfire
Cinders on the wind
Gruff voice on the radio
​Telling sad stories

NYD
The suburbs silent
Vehicles locked down in driveways
For one day a year
As if New Year's day
Brought greater tragedies
​Than mass hangovers

Teacup refractions
Chairs unfold in the garden
​Glare of Xerox sheets


Minus Three degrees
In the heart of the Nation
A cold heart indeed


Cars parked nose to kerb
Rear wipers have cut bright shapes
 In Monaro dust 

Shirts come off the line
All of them as stiff as boards
Thirty already

Dog show traffic jam
Radio  surfing blind spots
Hipsters with reflux

Newsradio blares
Times across the continent
Curious fractions

Dawn of the heatwave
Drive the farmer's market run
Don't Dream it's Over

Looking for old friends
Off the federal Highway
Halfway to the moon

The outer suburbs
Little white cross on the roadside
Dead bat on the wires

Halal kebab shop
Security in hi-vis
Queuing for their lunch

Banks of purple cloud
Spills over gold escarpment
So much for fireworks

The fan labouring
Promises of rain diminishing
A plague of insects

Take of your blundstones
Step out of the Christman lawn
Remember bindies

Saturday arvo
Hospitality workers
Now selling used cars

A flock of mynahs
Heavily tagged scribbly gums
One strategic bin

Spiralling oak leaves
Summoned home by currawongs
Children creep indoors
​

Fenceline wallaby
Yesterday's red sunrise cliffs
Smothered in white mist

Blast of a diesel
Hauling cold steel momentum
​Into the dry west

Half empty bottle
In reach of the barbecue
Whistles in the wind

Deserted highway
Gaunt man totes dusty smartphone
​Cue roadside haiku

Oil refinery
Keeping it running is a 
Bridge too far: Kurnell 

Bowing day sunset
Angle-grinding cicadas
One leaking Blundstone

Café's closing down
Crowd gathers on the pavement
Owners and their dogs

End of a good day
Awesome couch for fifty bucks
Won't fit in the car

Eighties triple play
Wet footprints on the carpet
Halloumi and mint

Splutter of green wood
Brother grunts behind his axe
Smell of the black earth

Disused barbecue
Succulents going mental
Sweet music lives here

Where the hell am I?
Post industrial wasteland
Post-bug Chippendale

Megalong sunrise
Two year old on my lap still
Looking for the moon

All the world's a chain
Of Japanese mini-marts
Selling shining stuff

Turpentine woodsmoke
Children wary of splinters
The temperature drops

Year of the Tiger
Dragon crosses light rail tracks
Year of the Rabbit

They gather on glass
Windshields, windows, spectacles
Approaching crecendo

She's clearing the streets
Purging the Pacific Rim
La Niña returns

Late night cleaning binge
Acccumulated past howls
​Into the vacuum

After school daylight
Reflection of some girl's grin
​In a dark cherry

Marrickville markets
The dogs of far-gone rockers
Sniff each other out

Newtown Festival
​Only rest from noise and glare
In the cemetery

Under the bunting
Authorised Inspection Station
Where the wattle blooms

A flock of mynahs
Heavily tagged scribbly gum
One strategic bin

Cool change came through
Glad of the heat in the walls
Mercury nosedives

Skippy the Greek
Belly dancers churn sorbet
Culture on a stick

Dishevelled magpies
Chorusing in unison
In the lee of Coles

Tiers of discomfort
From awkward to desperate
Wait at Centrelink

Any other day
I'd tell you how the mist boils
Off this ochre ridge

Lonely Currawong
Brakes of the recycling truck
Two more drops of rain

Seventeen degrees
locals in shorts and T-Shirts
Southern Cross tattoos
 

​Mattock head strikes sparks
Tistles choke this rocky ridge
An approaching storm

Bluest of blue skies
Rennovators squirreling
Need a coffee name

Line of the highway
Crow waits where the left lane ends
Past Government bend

Shreiking Magpie lark
Snatches mantis from flyscreen
His prayers unanswered

Fuzz of distant surf
Lapwings probes retreating sea
A wind sock hangs limp

Pitching of treetops
Cycle path strewn with debris
Orange chalk-dust sky

Forty-one degrees
Owners wade the lukewarm lake
Cooking up dog soup

Dark Emu
Sluice gates and fish traps
A million Dead Murray Cod
Civilisation
​

​

Mt Kosciuzko
Ain't no Mountain high enough
​Or more mispronounced


Australian clothes
Obvious in the wardrobe
Bleached like old white bones

Brake lamps torch the mist
Spilling from the blue plateau
​Old friends take their leave


Sun creep; the dark ridge
Thrown into dappled relief
As low cloud retreat

Wearing shoes inside
Eating with a knife and fork
Drinking tap water

The rain is coming
Honeycomb escarpment
Fades into clouds

Evening sun shower
Gentleness comes together Paradoxically

Heaven's mockery
Blasting heat and heavy cloud
Not a drop of rain

Where the tea-trees weep
Dogs that died while you were gone
Buried their last bones

Luxury vehicles
Styled as machine of the land
Gleam by new gates

Mole skins and blundstones
Soon-to-be-in-laws gather
Aspirations, dust

Glass and bubble wrap
Bearded men in hi-vis vests
Tackle the marquee

After the wedding
Heel protectors, bottle caps
On the trampled grass

Megalong sunset
Van Gogh treads crayons
​Into soft carpet

Wedgetail silhouette
Dawning gold vermillion
Riding with the wind

Great Western Highway
Teenage girl walks the shoulder
Into the dry wind

With the southerly
Testimony. After heat
There is always cold

Television crew
Waiting in there red night sky
​For the weather man

Rhodes Shopping centre
Cultural oxymorons
Cricket and yum cha

Echidna
Where the magpies swoop
Bristling with indignation
She is digging in

One thing you can do
In total fire ban weather
​Week's worth of washing

Roman blinds flutter
Where little children have slept
Stirring and murmur

Cold October moon
Moth against the windowpane
​What are you scared of?

Saturday arvo
Hospitality workers
Now selling used cars

European wasp
Hovering at eye level
One the cycle path

Dusty gutter curves
Shattered glass, ruptured bumper
By the red stop sign

A flock of mynahs
Heavily tagged scribbly gum
One strategic bin

Crammming another
Five dollar cleanskin empty
in the recycling

Last of the peaches
Brand new gingham uniforms
Selfies with magpies

Leak from a kinked hose
A dark patch on the concrete
That never widens

Blowfly tackles glass
Mover growling three doors up
Glare leaks through tired blinds

federal highway
Mirages by the dry lake
Acceleration

Eucalyptus haze
Bright patch ew landslide
One fat goanna

Dusty gutter curves
Shattered glass, ruptured bumper
By the red stop sign

Dog show traffic jam
radio surfing blind spots
Hipster with reflux

Skippy the Greek
Belly dancers churn sorbet
Culture on a stick

Busy social life
Second time at Coles
buying ships and dip