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I know what they are now, all huddled together like a close-knit family against

some catastrophe which overtook them.

These are the desiccated remains of the plant commonly called ‘houseleek’ but

more colorfully known as ‘hens and chicks’ because of the rosette shape

and habit of the plant to produce numerous ‘babies’, a colorful brood.

You could almost hear them clucking.

And they grow well in dry, outdoor locations like this one across the road from

Cliff’s Auto Repairs.

Below is a picture of what they would have looked like in their prime.

• pic courtesy of Wiki Commons

Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus.

Hocus Pocus, Laura Gilpin calls it, in her poem,

‘Two-Headed Calf’

about the calf in the north field with his mother

staring at the sky

and seeing ‘twice as many stars’

as usual;

or that still-born kitten

of Mary Oliver

with its one large eye in the centre of

its small forehead;

or a local ‘amazement’ —

that tree in Broad Street

with a twisted sense of humour

flexing its muscles;

nature’s little anomalies

… and the Cockatoos all Squawk

…. and the Cockatoos All Squawk

one day for grace

one day for repentance

one day for wisdom

the acquiring thereof

so easy to lose, misplace

like yr wallet,

the car keys,

that letter you meant to post;

on the third day he arose

from the dead;

on the third day I arise

from my three day sabbatical,

hair sticking up like the broken teeth

of a comb

and the cockatoos all squawk

Petty Detonations

Petty Detonations.

The six 0’clock news :

a fracas on King Willam.,

road rage on the Expressway,

a brawl on the steps of Parliament House,

abandoned pups,

another domestic,

why are we so unkind to each other?

but better

these petty detonations

than a war on the other side of the world

which saps

our strength and common sense

& like the latest TikTok meme

could go global

any moment.

Along the Way

Along the Way.

I used to peddle encyclopaedia

during the lean years

of uni

imparting knowledge

to the ‘hood

but these days

I prefer to impart wisdom

little kernels of Truth

I’ve picked up along the way

that have kept me

nourished.

Faintly Elizabethan

Your brow, my lord, is furrowed

as is the ribbed sea-sand.

Things get to you.

Whatever happened to your

ricochet heart?

• pic courtesy of pinterest

Walk Like You Know Where You’re Going

Walk Like You Know Where You’re Going.

The trouble is I didn’t have a clue.

I ambled along the main road, wispy as a cobweb.

People could tell.

He looks like a man who doesn’t know where he’s parked his car.

So I adjusted my eyes, the contours of my face and walked like I knew where I was going.

I even gained the confidence of asking someone, an elderly lady padding along the pavement with her poodle — as if it were a small detail.

Say, I said, could you tell me where the street is, the one where dogs do street art, you know, write their preppy little poems on stobie poles?.

Sure, she said, three streets back. Glebe.They don’t really write those poems, you know.

They don’t ?

She smiled. A skewed little smile.

But I knew,

Off I strode, happy as a loon.

On Being Darth Vader

On Being Darth Vader.

My shadow has a Darth Vader head.

It is tall, dark and hulking, exuding menace.

When I go out on the mean streets I am going

as my shadow, shoulders hunched.

“You don’t mess with the Darth’, I will say.

And they will back off !

I quite like the new me.

But others are having trouble adjusting.

On The Beach

On the Beach.

I walk down the dunes

onto the beach

where horses have pounded their hooves

in an early morning workout ;

where mermaids are sometimes seen

rising from the shallows

as if wading to shore

and where the old man with the red, lumpy face

as if stung by bees

ghost-walks his love

• pic courtesy of pinterest

I Went to Answer the Chocolate Bar

I went to answer the chocolate bar

but it had stopped ringing

and the screen rather than being lit up

was dark.

More disturbingly still, on closer inspection

it looked less and less like a mobile phone

and more and more like a chocolate bar,

same shape with writing on it

which , from distance, could be misread

as a text message, dark packaging

between the TV and air con remotes

where the mobile phone normally sits.