They have moved us to a new room, and the changing quality of air plays merry hell with the workings. Still, says the keeper, a bit of oil, a bit of a rub, you’ll be back to normal. To what counts as normal. You creaking yourself upright and bowing at the waist; me inclining my head and my eyes, extending an elegant arm. Your timber meets my steel, and element calls to element. I have loved you since 1823. In the last analysis, you say, but the wheels stutter and stop, and I will never know what happens next.

Jen Webb

 

Jen Webb is a poet who works at the University of Canberra, and has been published by journals and anthologies in Australia, Canada, the USA, UK and China. She is the author of several poetry chapbooks and, with Paul Hetherington, of Watching the World: Impressions of Canberra (Blemish Books 2015).

© 2017