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.