Chopped strips of dilute light slip through

the blinds. Not Venice. Streetlight shine

intrudes, frost filtered. Not city

flashing neon, hard-boiled crime show

detective dive. Suburban line.

Edgelands gap-toothed bite. A car stirs,

birds call the sun, know it’s coming.

Before it does, the stripes soften,

blur. Light puddles, albumen-clear

and raw beside graffiti wall

of cockatoo noise, then thickens,

congeals white. It is not yet time

for the days with a golden yolk.

Jacqui Malins

 

Jacqui Malins is a performance poet and artist. A 2015 Australian Poetry Slam finalist, she has featured at events including the National Folk Festival. She recently released her first book of poetry Cavorting with Time (Recent Work Press 2018). Jacqui co-founded and facilitates Mother Tongue Multilingual Poetry in Canberra.

© 2018