Stay Safe, Stay Home.
i.
I’ll sit here then and watch the lemon light
stencil rose leaves across the flyscreen;
colonial motif.
ii.
This Easter, nights are too warm
for taking the doona down,
unfolding our winter wardrobe,
though the days are tucking in.
iii.
The gym closed, we walk footpaths,
notice the carob’s reek
of morning sex. Clouds
draw our big sky closer,
cloak sunrise and sunset,
infiltrate Instagram – clouds
are a thing in April.
iv.
A hunger for pruning
eats into the garden.
I move my chair out of the shade
for lunch.
v.
Dawn Service Bluetoothed
to the front verandah,
we light a candle in a red glass,
nod at the neighbours.
A young man
cycles to the gate of the Army Museum.
Finding it closed and empty,
he pedals towards Monument Hill.
The next morning we see him sleeping
in the rotunda at the park.
vi.
We’re easing
into winter,
out of lockdown,
isolating memory
and desire,
waiting to wrap arms around our children again.