faster
than the Shinkansen, the mind of Greg McLaren
traverses
his own Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
an
encouragement to read his book
1
what
kind of a suburb is the bush?
with
its cars to the acre all rust
and
shallow buryings?
*
the rōnin
imagines
summer
when
the sun never sets
that's
your empire in
thought trained on me
named blade
no okonomiyaki yet
*
I
knew a cloud once
here's
the story
day
with its opening paddocks sets off
we're
the fireworks after
so
say
ravin' Australians
ghosts
may be heard here
*
and all of us
smoke
shaken
it's like I went where you thought you were
I can still smell the convenience store
solemn
parrots tell
this
nation colourless to light
2
around the Yamanote-sen
so I recall, in black and white
bushido in a bentō
your
salaryman folds
up
I
remember trying to scrub the lino floor
after
the acid night
wondering
which marks were actually there
before
mum and dad came home
putting
in some elbow grease
and
a week later,
uncharacteristically
meek with query, mum -
*
they
showed dad the plans for Darwin
where
the officers' club would be
but
Tojo never made it
thankfully
*
from Uluru set off on a big bike
we called seppuku hara kiri
we say RYE-YO-BEE now
3
Buddhism
was always crabby
if it's a religion at all -
it's all ideas you have to suffer
you
shouldn't have shot him
the
gun's the last resort
that
wishful thinking
goes
around comes round
and
now the age of Buddha tack is upon us
(something
next to collect and temple to)
shall we not mock their religious garments?
that could be a lot of fun
*
on
bicycles girls text and trundle
alongside
the Imperial Palace
by
Nijo Castle next
then
tofu whiff in first-thing snow
and
that's my way to school
where
once yakuza
hacked
at my helmet
with
cleaver
when
he leapt from car
you
couldn't make this up
all
that smiling like a thirsty dog
embarrassment
half hidden
*
eat
mihon
I
tell you
tatemae
it's
true
*
Matsushima
Kure
Ama
no Hashidate
and
Gion
for
a Pinsaru
to
practise floating and awe
you
don't have to be there
remember - we're phantom agents
4
some
objects are empty
meaning
we have the opportunity to fill them
should
the poem be sectioned?
days
numbered?
this
is how the mind lights
more
insect than bird
dissolved
to steam
she
said I could insert
you
do
*
we
go to ground as
dinosaurs
does
one ever mean to pollinate?
and yet bloom is telling
5
coal's secret life is tree
it's all one breath
and a next was long before anyone knew
you could make that an excuse
be none the wiser
*
not like in America
where you can be sure
the city named after some mineral
is a ghost town with a highway diner
if
the road was never moved
6
on
the day of the marathon
we
knew
the
Persians were bound to win anyway
we
walked
period
was called
that to embarrass the girls
though
not all of them could be embarrassed
just
as there were boys who, punched, would never feel a thing
the
race of iron
and
the weather was on
l'âge
d'or long since
we
walked
as
far as my place
where
we stopped for a durry
or
joint
a
little later
it was wagging I suppose
though as teachers we'd say jig
ah
halcyon! where fled?
7
proved
that the war had been fought
to
defeat fascism
Mr
What's-his-name
who
made kids hold chairs over their heads
in
the corner for a double period
he
threw the javelin through
the dog
at
the carnival in front of the whole school
and
that was the end of him
I'm
sure he'd thought he'd
miss
8
disgustingly
drunk
a
nearly moonless night
the
only time I ever spent actually on a bowling green
I
was 16 and throwing up
three
of us each a third of the bottle
scotch
an uncle had given for Christmas
knowing
mum and dad wouldn't drink it
thinking
there'd
always be a snifter
whenever
uncles came
9
but
you can be wronger than that
once
you start picking at the thing
they spoke of Godzilla
but it wasn't something we'd actually seen
of
the empire of signs, a
glimpse
Shintaro
Akakusa, you die!
how
eager your
ninja were for this
we
strapped terebi to
the back of our bikes
Kobe,
well Settsu-Motoyama
the
gomi-men
gave us their map
it's
all the other excitement moves one
of
course display must be a big part
glossy
at a distance as sex was then
the
blurring was itself an art
10
what
kind of a tree is the city
with
its reach of roots
cloud
touch opinions
and
traffic all on the flat
all
rolling
flat
out
rolling
?
*
years
that
glitter and stim
we
are flightless creatures
someone's
bound to dig us up
11
legends
of the camera kept
like
that loyal dog at Shibuya
I
can't remember the name
*
we
left 1000 yen on the floor in the airport
to
test the legend of Japanese honesty
it
was gone in moments
*
Petersham
is passing
pissed
haijin
press
on!
12
the
yards at Hornsby
slept
to there
and
back to Central again
no
one to wake you in those days
but
light at last would come
(rosy
fingered gal [of my dreams])
13
we're
always finding an event
authentic
to each it has to be
grey
skin like a tight elephant in the moon
takes
satellite to tell
where
and when you've gone
*
hey
you're my Christmas present
I
would have known you anywhere
14
keeping
Kyoto always in my heart
like
washi folded faded
(memory
too pure to bomb)
it
is a way of flowers
returning
to Kyoto
having
never left
I'm
natskukashi now
around
around Hiei-zan
run
like a marathon monk
told
dad I was drinking Suntori rum
he
said don't, some diggers
went
blind on that stuff
there
was the story about the bloke
they
tossed in the empty pool too
dad
lost his staff seargant's crown
because
of Kure
it
was just the one punch
let
us consider
the
platform pizza
frogsquat
OL helpmate
you
can't go home fast enough
when
I go there now I'm a ghost
but
moreso in the Middle Kingdom
(I
don't mean that part of Japan
but
it is true the Yanks wouldn't show their faces in Hiroshima
BCOF
was there)
I
too drank too much
how
drunk
I
laughed the Yanks to scorn
and
still could cycle home
feed
me some kitsune soba
will
ya
o
I shall never grow LELM
15
it's
a shabby sun we've caught
I
attempted to map the furthest extent
but
I ended up indoors
hope
spilled over
and
we ended up here
it's
like they said about the Krakatoa sunsets
those
purple barrels of '76
altered
things for a few years
these
are the colours you won't forget
like
childhood is imprinted on you
follows
you round all of your days
16
the empty orchestra
does quite a din
there's no one here can sing
you
put things in a poem
for
a kind of sepia
in
JB HiFi the young bloke
explained
to me the function of a dash cam
I'd
like the daguerreotype model
with
blurring when the traffic moves
or
cyanide at a pinch
17
all
the other worlds in windows
peep
and peekaboo
a
kind of aspic runs the clock
it's
only time moves on
18
as
if there were a science to the tree
so
that you could see into them
and
hear the swaying for a breeze
and
know the days and years for nothing
*
a
ghost is merest motion
like
a tick made avatar
dark
folded
into a call
self
said
until
it's gone
19
the
road goes on without us
and
busy yourself imagining
how
I was there
o
bicycle climb Mt Aso
slowly
slowly
that's
me in the ancient rain
20
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