Unemployed man writes poem in one room slab hut
Mother, sister, cop, gunshot. Brother: absent, blame
Moon turns black-eyed face away, roses wilt
Currawong forgets its name: calls duck, pigeon
Unemployment gang. Lost, reckless children range
Dresses worn for shame (dresses suiting eucalypts)
Moon hops in hope of losing hunters. Cops die on
duty, pensions paid. The Survivor wins the Cup
Poem ‘Mosquitoes should be left in peace’ wins pub
slam. No other entries allowed on fear of crop death
Moon’s face on wanted poster. Honey for sale sign
by burrow. Koala on chain gang for peppermint theft
Unemployed poet wears tracking device in bush
Moon mistaken for helicopter: shot down. Rust
sweeps through prisons. Bars, locks, guns crumble
Escapees eat roses right off bushes, get shot at
Currawong writes poem, signs it The Kookaburra
Mother and sister hop sideways to evade cops
Poodle blamed. Wombat mistaken for bonsai hedge
Poem goes unpublished, poet wears oil drum in rain
Brother and friends die on job, no regrets. Moonlight-
in-water-eating-carp sink to bottom. Feral cats roam
state. Raid farms, traverse rivers, borders like birds
Honey trap for hunting party too rough to resist
Michael Farrell is from Bombala, NSW, and lives in Melbourne. His most recent book I Love Poetry won the 2018 Judith Wright Calanthe award. Michael edits Flash Cove (flashcovemag@gmail.com).