Sunday, March 26, 2017

Kit Kelen - for after them - one polished star and one star falling


one polished star and one star falling

in memory of Dimitri Tsaloumas

same as it ever was
this day, this sun
weak signs of life
but honey gathering the hours
we follow through
buzzing alleys of timber
then the forest wakes
and birds take on
cloud, blue and bright
arcs lent from the magic
of knowing
not knowing
what’s next

one polished star
and one star falling
the mirror all hands to catch

hear the dogs whistling
night falls for the last time
and this is common
still hospital bright in the mind

there is a certain
late afternoon glow
forest reverting
to its many mansions
carved each from the golden light
the centuries have given

sleep is a leaning gully
sloping gold to shade
in the secret map of this life

then age confines me to this corner
anywhere in the world

where’s the lightswitch?
where’s the kettle?

these are my ashes
flesh from paper
I gather among words again

bloated with sky I’ll be
bone above
grey of low tide

winter in the sea’s dark churn
these are my aches

the moon long on its flea-bitten journey
bird of the drought who calls
'too late!'

the miles in the tank
each to own repose
or emperor
to his new clothes

let angels be
my punka-wallahs

one polished star
and one star falling 

7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. A great poem for a great poet. I rarely have any useful feedback for your poems because I like them so much. You often describe settings, situations and vibes that make me wish I could escape into them. I definitely need my own bush retreat. Just waiting for the property prices to fall ...

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  3. this reminds me of the cartoon of an ancient codger with walking stick, I remember seeing in a real estate agent's window when I was a kid, with the caption 'the young man who waited for the price of real estate' to come down

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  4. Yeah, I've already been waiting twenty years for Australian real estate prices to fall. The way things are going, I'll be an old codger pretty soon ...

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  5. Love it, especially the repeated refrain, but it is hard for me not to hear that intense “Once in a Lifetime” beat after the opening line, or to chant out the words, Byrne style (“this is not my beautiful light switch”)

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  6. now I've got that
    same as it ever was
    stuck in my head
    ... it wasn't that before

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  7. What a ride. I laid down in the leaning gully and another dream then began all close-up, cramped, aged and ashing ...delightful contrast to the 'opening-up' star stanzas and finale

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