Wanna see me juggle

an immeasurable weight
the tear drop falls
everything there is

the anticipation
patting a dog
a travel between lick or bite

fifty years ago I bought the album
with the song of the age I’ll be
this summer Christmas

working on my headstone
an abstract of heart on a sleeve
history is truancy

but when my grandfather
was laid out by nanna
in his one occasion suit

she grabbed my wrist laughing
don’t lick knives you’ll lose a tongue

my uncle that wake
chased us through the house

every room a chatelaine

put us in a hessian bag
an odour of dead fox and ragwort

then we sang battle hymn of the marines
a pianola with woozy recipes
all made of knobbly knees

run rabbit run rabbit run run run

James Walton is an Australian poet published in newspapers, and many journals, and anthologies. Short listed twice for the ACU National Literature Prize, a double prize winner in the MPU International Poetry Prize, Specially Commended in The Welsh Poetry Competition – his collection ‘The Leviathan’s Apprentice’ was published in 2015.