prefer boat to ship – sounds rounder, safer –
ten of them, a scattering, at all angles,
paper boats, only paper is for stories
people in one boat, sea unfolding,
wind scuffing cheeks –
prefer boat to ship – sounds fatter, safer
caught betwixt and neaped and between,
at the whim of moon’s tug,
a paper boat, only paper is for stories
letters and boats make journeys, while
the tide is the moon’s reminder –
prefer boat to ship – sounds rounder, fatter
but flotsam needs to be found,
lifted, held in cupped palms,
a paper boat, only paper is for stories
so I’m building a jetty of words, line by
plank by line, out to these
paper boats, only paper is for stories –
prefer boat to ship, sounds rounder, safer
Kevin Gillam (Western Australia)
First published on the Sawtooth Review website
Winner of the 2014 Sawtooth Writing Prize, Poetry
An independent poetry journal. Watch your step.
Showing posts with label Kevin Gillam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Gillam. Show all posts
2015/04/22
2015/01/22
the road
the road scars right, across the
palm of land, tumbling, dwindling,
a groove, a history, a way in,
worn and healed slick
the road, oil on linen, bitumen
on peat, with all its gradations
of shadow, bruise to smear to brush
the road, cloud above scuffed and
tugged by wind, rain sifting down,
the ‘haar’ they call it here,
cold breath of wet
the road, its dip and sway, blur
of scrub, the urge, glimpse of roof,
swerve, the early dark, the entrance
Kevin Gillam (Western Australia)
palm of land, tumbling, dwindling,
a groove, a history, a way in,
worn and healed slick
the road, oil on linen, bitumen
on peat, with all its gradations
of shadow, bruise to smear to brush
the road, cloud above scuffed and
tugged by wind, rain sifting down,
the ‘haar’ they call it here,
cold breath of wet
the road, its dip and sway, blur
of scrub, the urge, glimpse of roof,
swerve, the early dark, the entrance
Kevin Gillam (Western Australia)
2013/11/07
the hush
it's just that, yeah, the hush, the trigonometry
of because, but, no, not always logic but yeah,
art hankers for its hit of white and, yeah,
course, just sluice away, do your forgetting
in private 'cos no, this is a wide road for
thin thinks and, yeah(!), should've done the leaving
of blues to greens to reds, the yoga breathing,
but no, there is no polite retreat here — the
traffic of fraud is in flow and yeah,
absolutely, s'all done with ramps and cuisinere
rods and rote learning and you, yes you with
your good ears and air traffic controlled angst,
no, you can't buy the hiss of liquid nitrogen on
skin, can't buy it, nah, can’t buy the hush
Kevin Gillam (Western Australia)
of because, but, no, not always logic but yeah,
art hankers for its hit of white and, yeah,
course, just sluice away, do your forgetting
in private 'cos no, this is a wide road for
thin thinks and, yeah(!), should've done the leaving
of blues to greens to reds, the yoga breathing,
but no, there is no polite retreat here — the
traffic of fraud is in flow and yeah,
absolutely, s'all done with ramps and cuisinere
rods and rote learning and you, yes you with
your good ears and air traffic controlled angst,
no, you can't buy the hiss of liquid nitrogen on
skin, can't buy it, nah, can’t buy the hush
Kevin Gillam (Western Australia)
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