now i have moved out for good. / farewell fairy bread, farewell forehead / kisses, farewell mum’s wedding rings
now i have moved out for good.
farewell fairy bread, farewell forehead
kisses, farewell mum’s wedding rings, the
gold loop-de-loops they constructed between
my shoulder blades, farewell lavender
winters. in rushes adulthood with
all its dark water. i’ve been trying harder
in the city, touching the bark of
every tree when i walk outside,
searching for a world to grow old with.
i’ve been wading knee-deep into
poems of lukewarm earnestness and
just standing there, while they glide
politely around my calves. i’ve been
trying to fix my pen grip, which has been
wrong since year four, my stubborn fingers.
i’ve been used to getting everything right and
now here i am on the street with my hands up
against the trees, asking to wash their
feet, asking if my fingers make logical shapes,
is my thumb too fond of the first pointer
knuckle? dad sends me a photograph: plovers
on excursion in the industrial sector of
caringbah. nature arrives astonishingly
he says and the birds supernova from the
tree i’m venerating, calling to each other
across the long hours of the air.