Big on the Hawkesbury

8/9/2019 Big on the Hawkesbury

1/25

BIG ON THE

HAWKESBURY

MICHAEL BLACKBURN


2/25

BIG ON THE

HAWKESBURY

Michael Blackburn

The Knives Forks And Spoons Press

Newton-le-Willows


3/25

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.


4/25

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


5/25

MONTANE

montane streams

the presence of mangrove

competing with native pressures

macroinvertebrates

undertake migration

prawns, crayfish

increasing eutrophication

freshwater flow impaired


6/25

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


7/25

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


8/25

BY CHANCE

by chance of coolness

in this so sunny clime

an army of bottles

hid in the leaves of the myrtle

like bellbirds


9/25

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.


10/25

Oh, brave new world, my companion laughed,

that's left such creatures in its wake.


11/25

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


12/25

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


13/25

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


14/25

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


15/25

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


16/25

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


17/25

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


18/25

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


19/25

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


20/25

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


21/25

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.


22/25

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


23/25

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?


24/25

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


25/25

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

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