Snap this season
This seasonıs magpies seem
even bolder than last yearıs,
rainbow lorikeets
even more rainbow;
new canna lilies
more like delicately painted
porcelain than ever.
This seasonıs flies seem
worse than last yearıs
not the ones that sneak indoors
to buzz and swoop and get
sprayed down no, the open-air
ones from farmland and bush
in late November, seeking
animal moisture, the sweat
on your arms and face, spittle
in your mouth spit! lest you
swallow! Theyıre settling en masse
on your back, hitching a ride
round the park. They fancy
small kidsı undefended faces.
I asked Robin next door
(retired test cricket umpire)
how he coped. Aerosol repellent?
Nah, one bad bush-fly year
at the Sydney Test, he used so
much, it made his face peel
away like snake-skin.
Never again, thanks.
Better to swat them off,
with a chance of killing one.
Our suburbıs Asian residents
are walking the park
(sensible but sinister
inscrutable! )
in black gauze masks.
11am Wednesday 5 December 2007
Max Richards
Doncaster, Victoria
|