– 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.

– 62 –

in Tallboy

i tell my grandmother
who knew about plane flying
we are heading for the ponsonby
offramp. she tells me we are heading for
zemon which sounds like lemon
& that the americans will drop blakets & propaganda soon
& cigarettes if you are lucky.
i tell her about tv & advertising
& that it is best not to look
she says surely we must be close to the zemon
airport by now & how she must give blood
for money & bread
i tell her about calm things
like dolphins in the lemonadey
sea below doing their dorsal stuff
& how to make a safe lane change
in an import
from her wet nappy she asks me
where is the west
from the car
& what are we doing on the bridge.
in a newspaper cut out
that she kept in Tallboy
along with Seiko Watch there is her
standing beside a plane wing & a big number
like 01 say
with mask & earflaps.
boots also.