page 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
page 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.

page 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.