Spring Still Life
-Rebecca Jessen
a middle-aged man rolls off his banana
lounge at dusk. a white stretch
limo is conspicuous at peak hour. the kerb is dotted
with aging brown couches. the season for collection
has already passed. in the park lorikeets and cockatoos compete
for Australia’s Bird of the Year.
while juvenile brush-turkeys evade
existence in the undergrowth. in the distance
three identical dachshunds on the loose. at nightfall
I mistake incoming Boeings for stars.
To hear Rebecca read her poem ‘Spring Still Life’, click below.
Rebecca Jessen is the award-winning author of verse novel Gap (UQP, 2014) and poetry collection Ask Me About the Future (UQP, 2020). Ask Me About the Future was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and commended in the Anne Elder Award. Rebecca is currently a PhD candidate at Queensland University of Technology.
