trickery

[lineate][/lineate]1

 

[lineate][/lineate]sunflowers

 

[lineate][/lineate]          flop forward

 

[lineate][/lineate]and the moist grass fidgets

 

 

[lineate][/lineate]         i take to the beach

 

[lineate][/lineate]where footprints dissolve

 

[lineate][/lineate]    cliffs disassemble / monuments of homes

 

[lineate][/lineate]              collapse in shadows

 

[lineate][/lineate]                   a magician sleeps

 

2

 

[lineate][/lineate]        summer’s trickery

 

[lineate][/lineate]pulls at the ears of rhododendrons /

 

[lineate][/lineate]             livelihoods

 

[lineate][/lineate]run their distance / rooms

 

[lineate][/lineate]           no longer rotate with the sun

 

[lineate][/lineate]                 the road cambers right

 

[lineate][/lineate]                  and ends up frothing

 

[lineate][/lineate]                         into the sea

 

3

 

[lineate][/lineate]a cave

 

[lineate][/lineate]        covered in clay-painted hands

 

[lineate][/lineate]picasso-scratched dreams         opens to

 

[lineate][/lineate]migratory birds         with the torsos of men

 

[lineate][/lineate]the winged appendages of past pursuits /

 

[lineate][/lineate]         i braille walk

 

[lineate][/lineate]               the naked contours

 

[lineate][/lineate]      of half-finished images

 

[lineate][/lineate]                     then sink

 

[lineate][/lineate]           into a layer of soft-crumbling rock

 

4

 

[lineate][/lineate]the magician

 

[lineate][/lineate]             best known for his exploits on water

 

[lineate][/lineate]                                stands alone

 

[lineate][/lineate]                      giddy with hangers-on

 

[lineate][/lineate]   juggling light years

 

[lineate][/lineate]                small planets in their bubbles

 

 

[lineate][/lineate]faces fade

[lineate][/lineate]                       in and out

 

[lineate][/lineate]         signifying intakes of breath

 

[lineate][/lineate]           a vista timecapsuled in a mirage

 

[lineate][/lineate]                  the noise of peaches melting on trees

 

[lineate][/lineate]                             lupins

 

[lineate][/lineate]                         splitting their pods

 

[lineate][/lineate]                               ***

summer’s solstice

 

welcomes the hordes in animal skins

 

who take to the waves

 

hunting for hapuka

 

5

 

[lineate][/lineate]                 my curtains

 

[lineate][/lineate]                      smack at flies

 

i’ve taken to unpicking mirrors

 

the smiles / the grimaces

 

i’ve stuffed your tourist dolls

 

into the magician’s hat

 

6

 

bird families

 

using fingernails

 

[lineate][/lineate]      swing amongst macrocarpa

 

[lineate][/lineate]               the pregnant females

 

[lineate][/lineate]        flightless and

 

[lineate][/lineate]                        nocturnal

 

wash their bellies in rock pools

 

[lineate][/lineate]        they show off

 

[lineate][/lineate]                 the promise of things

 

[lineate][/lineate]                 the resurgent sun

 

[lineate][/lineate]                 the return of communal hours

 

i’ve learnt

to take off my coat

without being seen

 

[lineate][/lineate]              i hang out

[lineate][/lineate]              on both sides of the road

[lineate][/lineate]              walk transparently

 

through heavy foliage

 

paddocks

 

couples lying with statues

 

 

[lineate][/lineate]        i’ve learnt

 

to alter the night lights

 

[lineate][/lineate]            of my clock

***

 

[lineate][/lineate]                     close to the regenerative edge

 

[lineate][/lineate]                        against a red-punctured ceiling

 

a kereru

 

[lineate][/lineate]              skydives through fractures in clouds

~ Iain Britton

 

Since 2008, Iain Britton has had collections of poems published by Cinnamon Press, Interactive Press, Oystercatcher Press, Lapwing Publications, Kilmog Press, plus three pamphlets by Greendoor Publishing, Beard of Bees Press and Like This Press. A new collection of poems will be published by Kilmog Press in 2014 and Rufus Books in 2016.