Hi Max enjoyed this -did you mean drag out the house ?houses are heavy could
be bad for the back-yes the using up of one's allowances rings a bell
I am also a bit worried about level four -hope that the nozzle is ok
P concerned P
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Max Richards
Sent: 21 March 2007 08:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: snap 21 March: hand-held hose
Hand-held hose
Till the drought breaks and our dams refill,
our town's on 'level three water restrictions',
and I'm on hand-held-hose-duty.
Twice a week, and twice only,
we hose our garden (but not our lawn)
from 6 to 8, and 8 to 10.
I rise in the dark, drag out the house,
and stand still as long as I can, hosing.
The nozzle adjusts from gentle and wide
to narrow, fast and far. The garden is small.
Avoiding the rose bushes' sensitive leaves
before dawn and after dark is beyond me.
The coming of the light is a long slow pleasure.
The park takes curvaceous shape, grey turns brown.
Bird music and harsh bird talk start up.
The first pedestrian passes towards the bus stop.
For once, the folk up-hill aren't watering.
No-one down-hill has come out at all -
as if yesterday's light rain was all they needed.
Much of the water I am squandering
flows under my driveway - and my neighbour's -
and surfaces where his lawn is green and growing.
He likes to thank me. We share a young
thirsty hedge we're both rather neglecting.
Soon boredom sets in. My boots are well watered.
Tonight whether the garden needs it or not
I'll use my quota, that's what rationing does
to a person. The fading light will take away
the park, the differences between plants.
The pedestrian returning home
may well think I've stood here all day.
Sunday I can do it all, legally, again.
Should the drought not break, level
four is threatened, unthinkable.
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Max Richards
Doncaster, Victoria
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