disappearing from victoria before the fire alert hits catastrophic

by April Egan

disappearing from victoria before the fire alert hits catastrophic by April Egan after Fatimah Asghar a boardwalk a delicious suburb sun yellow caroline inner city wonder tram tracker train drover’s boy thank god I’m alive watermelon grapes watermelon bitter melon gourd yells the market yell at me until I have cauliflower ear then sell me as well so rain rain rain until my melbourne bones bloom damper walk me home to my grave kiss me rain rain again take me now bendigo ballarat the briars say everything that makes us lovely is deceased so touch my hair bite my teeth do not speak of the day howling sun dead as a dollar ned kelly swallows when he meets me on the other side the stars our firm historians hair snagged by a gumtree jack rabbit ribbon of jawbone the grass as usual is curly and blonde crocodiles have learned to our misfortune how to be fish seagulls ugly invincible gods watch green swimming pools nurse sharks below frankston great secondhand smoker far cry from a culture I weep for the arctic in the hotel as you smoulder nature strip like biting your lip tenebrous asphalt eyeliner your every galah pink like a cheap witness fleeing the scene then deeper then I levitate halls gap rip in time then darker bell mynah night I am its ghost tree stripped back to its first fire like the wind I am an organ found in lonely bodies heading out of the city and screaming all the way to botanic gardens naked knees to the chest ochre dogs float above the crickets the colour red is the only friend for miles gippsland loddon mallee come closer come to me ravaged come with your tall grasses come with white hot step come eerie come so close I can smell you burning come so close I rot your water is like a womb with no kick into the darkness the great laugh beyond laugh laugh come close come heavy laugh laugh unhinge your snake jaw laugh long river and eat me whole send me by the tanjil to mornington hanging softly low like a lullaby arguing through the fog close your eyes the dead are long dust now mount martha below eliza east arthurs seat is above so swallow your white lies your churning ambergris irony native bees are stingless pull a tooth from a stone on my hand a silk worker baby fat softness putrefies first much faster under this sun we are lean and young cool can of my shadow divined by the hard yakka linger gentle creatures fangs safe in the tabernacle mad splendour for me hover as if thinking I am warm I am bright there is so much ahead yes there is so much ahead.