Camping on the Nullabor -
that great nothing -
I draw a line
from the toe of my sleeping bag
to a pointer star.
I sketch in some ladder rungs
(aluminium looks like
silver on that elusive darkness)
and imagine the climb
to get up there to the great beyond.
The Halley's Comet of my childhood
is still out there
waiting for another scoop
"Man camps on double mattress
in box trailer while
by the campfire river rocks explode -
their own brief galaxies".
Eternal - that big word
like a brain ache -
taunts and ruffles
the feathers of sleep.
I am so small in these huge spaces
so small and so far down
my imaginary ladder.
I snuggle in
and roll onto my side.
The silver ladder wavers
like spider silk
and I imagine rolling
and rolling
through the night,
pulling on the silken line
until I am wrapped
in the cocoon
of the galaxy.
I am in the cocoon
as Earth is -
her quilt
so distantly speckled
is all around me
Outer Space -
so far away
and all around -
a beautiful
paradox.
a terrific poem, full of ethereal images esp the quilt and cocoon; almost mystical; love also the scoop of Halley’s comet; I love it as much as Nimmitabel — and that is high praise 🙂
Out of the Cave 
a terrific poem, full of ethereal images esp the quilt and cocoon; almost mystical; love also the scoop of Halley’s comet; I love it as much as Nimmitabel — and that is high praise 🙂
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Oh yay! Thank you! It felt smooth, the unraveling of this poem… like it knew what it was doing even if I wasn’t sure.
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it reads like that too; it knew its way 🙂
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A really beautiful poem. So vivid and natural in its flow. Great job!
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Thank you!
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Thanks!
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There’s something so dreamy about this poem. I love all the imagery especially the sky being a quilt
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Again, thank you!
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