– 60 –

1YA

you get the radio on
& hear the bird of the day
which sounds like any other
whistle being fed into the 9
o'clock beeps with news

you know wellington is there somewhere
forming some sort of front.

there is a red light on the transistor
you got from the dick smith store

you are connected
by a tuner

from the volume you will come to know
all those people going about
their steps up up
into their warm lives

– 61 –

to stay put from the wind
which is for sure a hurtler.

you will come to believe
that wellington lies inside a radio
& bleak is on a.m.

there will be much talk about
who the weather is heading for
& how wellington is forgot
of the sun.

& you will remember vic's uncle pat
of petone
& the smell of his hands
in the wet flatette
& how his loose phlegm cough
broke free of itself
on the carpet by your feet

you can turn wellington
off with your thumb.