The medieval in Romania spills into the contemporary. Greek temples thieving time in Sicily. Bargaining as gameplay in Mexico City markets. Sonic orchids in Singapore. In Argentina stomach pains stage a futile sit-in. Pickpockets in Paris, near robbery in Buenos Aires. Fields wrapped in phosphorescent saris. A maroon takeover in Roman villas. Sand dunes, fake sand pits. Activism against flies. Blackouts in Ubud. Feel-ups on city trains. Casts and casts-offs in Pompeii. Fronds pay weeping homage in Bali. Chasing the scent of the gamelan. The camp asymmetries of Gaudi. The Mumbai concert as audience walkabout. Strict laundry rules in Basel. The handrail crashing to the ground. A storm of scratching from mosquito bites. Hefty shopping hauled up po-faced hills. Punctual speed trains that punctuate. Crocodiles toying with the tourist boat. Rock Art. The knobbly hands of history. While pink waterlilies colonise the muddy river. Drowning in decibels. Bushfires barking before their time. A key card that doesn’t cooperate. Cowbells concatenating in the Alps. Megaliths brooding in Malta. Ubiquitous fishy pasta. Lemon ice cream for le petit dejeuner. Queasiness on a swaying restaurant boat. Lido lights on fire at night. Car brakes fighting water in Bangkok. A recalcitrant refund for a hotel sewage problem.
Hazel Smith was a Research Professor from 2007 to 2017 at Western Sydney University, where she is now an Emeritus Professor. She has published four volumes of poetry including Word Migrants, Giramondo, 2016, several academic books and numerous multimedia works. She is a member of the contemporary multimedia and sound group austraLYSIS. In 2018, with Will Luers and Roger Dean, she was awarded 1st Place in the US Electronic Literature Organisation’s Robert Coover prize for the work novelling. Her webpage is at http://www.australysis.com/hazelsmith.htm