Posts Tagged ‘poetry’
Portrait of a Fast Cat
Grandma on the back verandah,
the Final Edition in her lap
throws her tea to hit
the neighbours’ cat in our flowers.
Pragmatic, the pussy watches
the arcing body of hot water
somersault through air off-target—
The first drops rattle claws
on the rock ledge
as the missed cat scrams
And a backwind catches the brown tail
of liquid still descending
into the gold chrysanthemums
and splashes it in petals all over
the red verandah gate.
Irate, grandma enters the kitchen
for another cup
then settles in the lawnchair by the steps
watchfully,
the news rolled up like a cannon.
Between slats of the high, weathered picket,
eartufts twitch in the sun.
Seedbed
Time’s flower the clock
unfolds the child in me
who in my dream awakes
to find her body sepalled green
with flame.
In her brain
the tongue’s blue root,
the fire sings her secret name.
From her navel,
an umbilicus of light
stems a black blossom
whose galaxies of pollen
slow ponderously
winding her in
‘Till the clockflower’s pistils
fall thick as if from rain
and pause in the finished hour
so the key that flicks
the black seeds back
can turn and spin her ’round again.
On wakening she opens
wizened eyes
and I touch
with her timeless hands
the face of an old, old
woman.
