big on the hawkesbury
TRANSCRIPT
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BIG ON THE
HAWKESBURY
MICHAEL BLACKBURN
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BIG ON THE
HAWKESBURY
Michael Blackburn
The Knives Forks And Spoons Press
Newton-le-Willows
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Big On The Hawkesbury Michael Blackburn, 2010
First published in the UK, 2010, by
The Knives Forks And Spoons Press
10 Avocet Close
Newton-le-WillowsMerseyside
WA12 9RE
ISBN 978-9565418-2-6
Cover photograph by Michael Blackburn.
Thanks to Bill & Lynne.
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ORIGINS
straight off the Coromandel
to Mud Island
hostilities broke out again in the winter
near the farm of Henry Lamb
they came from the East to the West
two round lights, derailment
burnt down by an orphan aboriginal girl
Lamb and his wife had befriended
this is years before
a family boat explodes on the river
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MONTANE
montane streams
the presence of mangrove
competing with native pressures
macroinvertebrates
undertake migration
prawns, crayfish
increasing eutrophication
freshwater flow impaired
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TROUBLE IN PARADISE
two young men
setting a car on fire
in Kurrajong
a stolen Holden Commodore
off Comleroy Road
work out the cost
of Wednesday's bushfires
the situation
could change
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SEVERED
severed arms float in the river
then a severed head found by fishermen
the arm of a 32 year old heavily tattooed
identified by fingerprints
the identity of the head not confirmed
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BY CHANCE
by chance of coolness
in this so sunny clime
an army of bottles
hid in the leaves of the myrtle
like bellbirds
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DANTES HOUSE OF HORRORS (AN EXTRACT)
I went in search of the event horizon
along the banks of the Hawkesbury,
walking with the ghost of a man who never existed.
Upstream the methane is visible;
it bubbles through the water
where miners strip the longwalls out.
Listen, said my companion,
the words of the dead decay and rise
combustible and rank.
Under Richmond Bridge we met the host,
a troupe of ragged players
staggering and puking in the nighttime breeze.
From out the shadows a one-eyed man
confronted me and said, I know your face,
you fought with me in the corps at Long Tan.
He flared in the dark like acetylene
but memory blew back like a blast of weed:
No, I said, my name is Myles, I was never there;
but you were the one who jumped from our taxi
in the darkness of London's East End,
you left us careening in our drunkenness.
Sober and alone you survived in your slippers,
made your way home and never spoke again
to any of your lost companions.
Thus rebuked his face like a doubted light sank back
on the pillow of shades beneath the bridge.
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Oh, brave new world, my companion laughed,
that's left such creatures in its wake.
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THIS BE MY SIGN
gourmet pies
burgers, chips
& devonshire tea
coffee, cakes
& pastries
my pies are real
read my sign
before the council
takes it down
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BUSHFIRES
up here they do not reach us
but they tincture the air
and smudge the sundown
on the river's edge
I put my hand in water
for coolness
for reassurance that
I'm not really burning
like Carthage
burning
burning
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KAFKA ON THE HAWKESBURY
from Hellerau to Leipzig with Pick
from Windsor to Richmond with Beck
unhappy nights:
dogs barking
its impossible to live with her
how absurd
get up
hold on
have it all back
insomnia, headache
rain (I dont regret it)say nothing
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LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY
Jane is on the treadmill
and the Lebanese are fighting on the beaches
the whining Howard has gone
the way of every saddle-thrasher
and the smell of baking carrot cake
is rising up the stairs
the bikers are battling at the airport
and the refugees are throwing their children overboard
the oceans are a patchwork
whose patches are out of sync
and short of basic nutrients
theres beer in the fridge and were hopingamnesia will transform us all
to lucky, lucky, lucky
now the Lebanese are no longer fighting on the beaches
and Jane is off the treadmill, resting her knee,
watching tv
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HALF MAN
the sea eagle
in his tall tree
takes the high view
and the long view
up and down the river
to navigate these banks
you must be half man,
half-bird at least
or descend from two legs
to four
like a goat
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NO MORE LIZARDS
theres no more lizards
in the garden, she said
do you think theyve moved next door?
our new ginger tom
was cleaning his soft face
as he lay on the kitchen floor
I said nothing
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SUNNYSIDE MOMENT 1
fat in her pink pajamas and just out of bed
shes whining my baby, oh my baby
as she hands us the leash for her alsatian
thats leapt her fence into our strange garden
and has found a way over
by the time we get back
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SUNNYSIDE MOMENT 2
a snap of Matt and Barry outside the house
tinnies in hand, waving the wad of notes
raked in from a win on the horses
Matt, whod follow his liver into oblivion
and Barry who moved to Blacktown
and found that things were just the same
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SUNNYSIDE MOMENT 3
a strong hard piss at fifty
first thing in the morning
banishing the need for a biopsy
makes him so happy
he could whistle
if only he could whistle
like his mates can
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SUNNYSIDE MOMENT 4
I was on the bed ready naked, she said
when he stumbled in through the door
he looked at the bed
then he looked at the floor
then he looked at the window
then he shook his head
and walked right out, calling my name
he only came back when I screamed
Christ, he said, I didnt see you there
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ORTHOGRAPHIC ANNOTATIONS TO A BOOK OF AUSTRALIAN
POEMS
I
strategic referral to Romantic languages
and lyrical history
scarecrow
deconstruction of the esthetic of own poem
ii
getting inside esthetics
iii
joke
made of juniper berry
put himself deliberately in an avalanche of
sensory overload; books; TV; CDs etc.
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ON THE FERRY
purple top over a white polo neck
on her left breast a small
heart of white stones
bound within another silver heart
the stones
shining white blue
as her breast rises and falls
asleep on the ferry
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PERSONALS
At Penrith
Under new management
Bodyrub Fr $30
Full Service Fr $50
*
At St Marys
Asian slim busty sexy lady.
Beauty for best massage.
*
At Windsor
A touch of paradise.
Under new management & owner.
Annalise is back. New ladies.
*
Im 18, busty & need XXX
Discreet fun. will send pics
& videos.
*
Im a XXX addict! Im hot
& dirty! I luv it day & nite.
*
Im V Dirty and will do anything.
Looking for sum relief or good time?
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Springwood
Colonial Motel
Happy Safe Eater
Look Out Pedestrians About
School Lane
Psychologists
We Sell For Less
Paget St
Merge Right
Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme
Stock Crossing
80the Millennium
Left Lane
Buses Turning
Mirror Floor Sanding
Busk Poets
Truck Smash Repairs
Horse Feed
your happy placeTurn left at any time with care
Stockfeed
Universal Brotherhood Mission
Looking for that extra room?
Mushroom Compost
House floating
Office Fitouts
70
Notice Prosecuted
Form 2 Lanes
Start Toll Point
No Cash Booths
Red Light Camera
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HERAKLEITUS ON THE HAWKESBURY
that young Greek was here
stepped into and out of it
numerous times
crossed back and forth
at Wiseman's Ferry
without saying a word
fished for perch in the cooler months
knocked back too much booze
every once too often
proved too ready with his fists
to be a philosopher, shouting
I may be Greekbut I don't speak wog
vanished one morning
leaving his bills and dirty clothes
and a notebook with only one entry
with regard to the river, it read,
that other Greek was wrong