Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

States of Poetry 2016 - TAS | 'The insistence of now' by Jane Williams

by
States of Poetry Tasmania - Series One

States of Poetry 2016 - TAS | 'The insistence of now' by Jane Williams

by
States of Poetry Tasmania - Series One

The insistence of now

 

An almost-noir chill day in the cemetery.

A service just finishing, no one I knew.
I walk the line - observer/interloper,
drawn to incongruities, ambiguities.

The way graveside life teems - regardless,
causal. A priest walks by swinging
his thurible, black robes, black puffer jacket.

A child forages tidbits from a mother’s pocket.

An intermittent breeze flaps
the canary yellow tie of a mourner
becomes a metaphor: identity, freedom,
inarticulate love.

The mountaintop an expo of spring snow.

A ginger cat plays hide-and-go-seek
with patches of light and shadow and
                                me.

Daisies cover names and dates insisting now.

A pine tree severed to its stump, the fresh
cut scent intoxicating and guilt-ridden
as any pheromone.

Amoung the rows of marble and granite
a stop-red For Sale sign advertising
its vacant plot
three tiers, a mobile phone number.

All this cordoning off, alphabetizing
unsustainable degrees of separation.

Beneath our feet the herculean ants carry on.

Above us plovers swoop miss swoop again.

In the rising bark of bitzer dogs all our unchecked
daydreams off lead, indistinguishable, giving chase ...

Jane Williams

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.