Thoughts in a Rearview Mirror
        for Lachlan

Perhaps he takes off his wings
one tanned feather at a time
or folds them into a telescopic blue
beside all those other seabound clouds.

He always has the window down.

Saltair beneath fingernails course
as sand. A new undercurrent pulls
between shoulderblades green
as crabgrass as pale as xanthia
at the blackboys feet something
speechscratched moves.

His yellow hair a dangerous willow
has saturated these useless banks
as flesh as gum as teethmarks
left upon the vinyl upholstery
in his mother's car.

NB: the black boy is a native shrub (as is xanthia) - no offense intended, nor pun

Richard Hillman has just completed a PhD at Flinders University (South Australia), and has had another book published last year (Jabiluka Honey: New & Selected Poems Bookends Books, 2003).He is now a contributing editor for papertiger (cd rom poetry journal) - links available on web- since he had to let SideWaLK: an antipodean poetry & poetics journal slide late last year.

Email: Richard Hillman

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