Stripped bare

Owen Bullock

Chi Qong
first thing
cicadas crackle

even early morning
red parrots
red 

black wings white wings open over suburbs

worth getting dizzy for
I stoop to sniff
the first narcissus

are you really a swan, 
daffodil bud, or am I just
drunk on you?

the spider walking up sky

parlour fern sits crickets chorus

curly feathers 
on the black swan’s tail –
spring solitude

if there’s trees
there’s company –
solo lunch

a magpie 
pecks crumbs –
our colourful problems

swan plant
stripped bare – change 
a-comin

                 virus worries
jasmine and clover scent
drag me along

---

Owen Bullock’s most recent publication is Impression (Beir Bua Press, 2022). His other titles include, Uma rocha enorme que anda à roda (A big rock that turns around), translations of his tanka into Portuguese by Francisco Carvalho (Temas Originais, 2021), Summer Haiku (Recent Work Press, 2019), Work & Play (Recent Work Press, 2017), and Semi (Puncher & Wattmann, 2017). He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. His other interests include juggling, music and chess. https://poetry-in-process.com/ @OwenTrail @ProcessPoetry

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