AUSTRALIAN POETRY
COLLABORATION
ARCHIVE
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POETRY COLLABORATION
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Heather Brigstocke
Light the way
Watery
space
open
arms beckoning
Light
grows
the
water reveals glory
offers
an unwrinkled hand
challenges
dares
Through
the window
clouds
shroud
the light in doubt
cast
a shadow on picture frames
Memories
shattered by tempered light
shining
for her
And
in looking at the source
finds
she controls its brightness
by
the tightness of her grip
on
the extended hand.
Blue races
They
say that on a clear day
you
can see the Blue for miles
nothing
else acceptable
It’s
the winning post!
rump
slapped with a blue ribbon
for
a race, well done
Can
you see the Blue?
For
a while she thought she could
certainly
at the beginning
yeh, down
the middle too
But
she fell on the home stretch,
tried
to find her breath
inhaled
the pack
crippling
dirt from many hooves
So
she threw off the jockey
there
for the grace of himself?
Never!
only in the name of the Blue
took
off for a track of her own colour
though
blue had always been her favourite colour
Yes,
she left the Blue deification
to
those that quite like
blue
ribbons in the saddle
and
one hoof in the knackery.
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Alison Coshott
Orange
A dry red sunball
floats down through
dust from mine dumps;
hangs in the air
with coal smoke
from cooking fires
Cars stream home
from offices
to the bosom
of wire garnished walls
The traffic lights stop us
red in our tracks.
A picannin starts
his procession
along the row of glittering fringe benefits.
We have been warned:
These boys are used by men,
they run in packs to
distract and steal
through smashed windows
I look at him, this victim
smooth, brown,
big-eyed he begs
Madam - give me money
for bread
I turn away, steely eyed
from my reflection
in his brown and yellow disks.
There are so many beggars
Wait. I say. No please
from me to him.
I pick an orange from the foot well
poke it through the gap
to him outside
Here - I smile a bit
He stares at the orange
I turn away