Kate Middleton
(debris series)
Green and mesh but cut sharp sheer grēne scearp
to raggedly scrap & remains left to leach leccan
create some future biosphere where dye dēag
marks strata first where plastic brittles brēotan
into small-writ petroglyphs but for now smæl
a duller sheen to rock the oxides of scīnan
some other age exposed where I lean against ongēan
striated blocks hewn from which quarry? hēawan
At ground an empty carton a stroke grindan ǣmtig
pack no lungs in sight and discarded lungen
medicine cup now collecting salted air sealtan
for dosage stray kelp strips or rotted bark’s rotian beorc
brush against surfaces depths In the clover clāfre
patch a dead three-leafer at last turned brick red dēad rēad
ahead of cruelling into blonde distintegration
Kate Middleton is an Australian writer. She is the author of the poetry collections Fire Season (Giramondo, 2009), awarded the Western Australian Premier’s Award for Poetry in 2009, Ephemeral Waters(Giramondo, 2013), shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s award in 2014, and Passage (Giramondo, 2017). From September 2011–September 2012 she was the inaugural Sydney City Poet.