Dot

 

[Dot]

 

Panning back

from the dot of a long black

in its deep white cup

 

The wakeup lineup

orange dot and white and tangerine

pills for the blood and tissue

 

By day the traffic lights

dotted lines and homes beautiful dot

each advance of pedal and sun

 

By night the lightbulb

a dot in a thousand passing windows

turns square beneath the moon

 

You who are there

needing only a touch of the dot

on my phone to be here all our words

 

Florescent city

fluorescent at night city

dot on a map chaps elaborated

 

Moon soft airless white

dot amidst trees or long clouds

smooth light on the skin

 

Planet of an aquamarine

dot rising from its far horizon

in an old moonman’s photo album

 

Iris psychochromatic

a pupil of light the dot inside

widening contracting resting

 

As much as to say

the dot at the close of a sentence

is not an end but a start.

Phone

 

Iso-mandala No. 273 (2021)

[Phone]

 

Lost my phone means

a day without my phone

no news to speak of

 

made to gaze at flowers

for hours now

I cannot take their pictures

 

left wondering what to do

true due to absence

of my concentration app

 

missing my friend the podcast

their confident voice

in any gender and mood

 

and almost didn’t get out

of the carpark alive

missing you satnav you jezebel

 

someone is trying to reach me

I’m trying to reach them

I could revert to postcards

 

maybe I left it in the cinema

or that supermarket shelf

I will have to cancel next week

 

perhaps my lifeline

is safe inside an inside coat pocket

hanging in the wardrobe

 

time is buried in there

and all my contacts

their names dancing on a pinhead

 

please phone me now

and we can celebrate the find

unless it’s on silent mode

 

let me this once

give you a picture with no pictures

a zen ringtone

 

I guess I’ll watch the weather

in the absence of a forecast

and make up my own in real time

Follow

 Reflections for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, the 10^th of November 2024, in the pew notes at St Peter’s Church, Eastern Hill, Melbourne.  Written by Philip Harvey.

Immediacy is a hallmark of the Gospel of Mark. The storytelling is constantly in the business of cutting to the chase, leaving the listener to intuit the finer detail. The very declaration that “the time is fulfilled” (Mark 1: 14-20) is a case of medium in sync with message: we are placed in the immediate now, and faced with a choice.

Jesus’ ministry starts where he’s at, in the here and now. He calls certain local fishermen to follow him. This doesn’t look like some takeover master plan. It’s entirely relational and personal, just between them. What happens next is anyone’s guess, though the first step we are told is to repent.

 

We also learn immediately that Jesus is deft with a pun. These fishermen can be fishers of other people. What can this mean? The line dangles. Net-working takes on a new meaning. The men’s work and livelihood is affirmed, but at the same time they are challenged with something new. It’s not even clear what this new thing is, but it doesn’t seem to be just something extra thrown in.

 

Reading this call of the first disciples, we know that the Gospel is the outcome of long and deep experience. Reflection on all of the subsequent events has taken considerable time, focused prayer, difficult learning, and transformed awareness. Yet the recollection of that calling is, for them, its immediacy. They drop everything, even the family business, and follow. They are determined to find out what’s going on.

 

They are about to discover Jesus, a person who exists in the present moment. His teachings, his sermons, his actions and miracles are immediate responses to the need of the moment. His stunning talent for analogy is so breathtaking that they start talking in parables themselves, the world around them coming to life in whole new ways. Half the time, they don’t even get what he’s on about, yet later the way they recount what he did and said shows they learnt well. They know their own limits. His presence never leaves them and must be declared to others. The need of the moment is met through attention to his presence.

 

It is this openness to the unexpected call that animates their first encounter, and every subsequent encounter. And it is this story, retold in clear-cut immediate words of a parable, that we ourselves hear now. In turn, it is not just that we are confronted with change in our lives, but that change is possible.

 

Sweep

 

 The 1883 Melbourne Cup which was won by 

Martini-Henry, ridden by J. Williamson. 

From the original edition of the Illustrated Sydney News.

[Sweep]

 

They’re off Blinkered Gambler

and Blood Sport start well

with Hyper Announcer making the running

 

Late Scratching, Careless Riding

on the first turn spread out

with Whip Suspension and Tamarisk Row.

 

As they settle in it’s Bob Each Way

Have A Flutter, Sure Thing,

Left At The Post, Dodgy Bookie

 

Blew My Dole Cheque looking good

Better In The Wet, Finding Form

and forget the rest.

 

Now Jonathan Swift is moving up

on the far side Houyhnhnm in the box seat

and Yahoo looks a threat but oh dear

 

Glue Factory’s in trouble

it seems to have had a fall and

with it Careless Riding and Whip Suspension.

 

It’s Pompous Trainer, Own Your Owner

Carrot And Stick, Lady Muck, Super Swooper

turning into the straight and oh

 

it’s Drunken Punter and Lady Muck

Drunken Punter and Lady Muck

Drunken Punter and Lady Muck

 

neck and neck nose to nose

they’re at it hammer and tongs

but on the outside yes

 

it’s the New Zealander

No Illusions what did I tell you

the champion a bat out of hell

 

passes Wibbly Wobbly

Mr Ed, Fat Chance, Warned Off

and Write Your Own Ticket, the stayer

 

crosses the line easily ahead of

Correct Weight, Sudden Plunge

and forget the rest.

Garbage

 

LRB No. 3: Lowdown Revue of Kooks (2021)

[Garbage]

 

Garbage speaks the language of garbage

garbled packaging empty of content

throwaway lines rubbish lies

 

Garbage piles up the garbage

side looks on sidewalks gauge it

more rubbish than ever even last week

 

High visibility garbage

nasty garbage

stream of consciousness garble

 

Garbage garbages forever even

the apotheosis of wasted time

front and centre the junk that’s left behind

 

please put a lid on it landfill it

well-earned jail time stale time

where the sun don’t shine