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Video: Real Media (Dial-Up / Broadband)
Hard Case Muse
hard case muse
hard case muse
mystery man
man much missed
man in a mist
a muse a muse
amusing mystery
hard case to unravel
unravel and revel
a hard man to amuse
must the muse bemuse
A muse or B muse
two muses musing
two bees being
two seas seeing
to put a hard case
in a proper place
a complete basket
a proper place to hold up
and prop up the lot
proper and improper
hard man good mate
a good mate to die for
mighty muse
or might he not
all poetry is black
all poetry is white
except when it is read
allowed
and not aloud
all black poetry
hard nut to crack
hard case to nut
he needs a hard nut
to prop
a whole case of muse
all drunk at the proper time
after the game
Whatipu
The shore-line is not where it was
The lighthouse stands inland
Tall jointed grasses with the flexion of hair
Continue the work of reclaiming
Immigrant swallows whizz in the wind
They have forgotten Australia
The rock was an island not so long ago
The calibre of the past leaves a lot to desire
How lovely the dog
Who rides the crest of that wave
He has ridden all the way from Africa
He is full of comedy
Second nature is his home
He lives in it
As naturally as “The Cocoanuts”
Is the title of the first Marx Brothers’ movie
The poet is not the author
Of the lyric but the subject
Wrote Pasternak
Blue bottle blue penguin blue moon
From Fool Moon (Auckland UP, 2004)
Dancing Dogs Productions presents
THE FUTURE IS STUPID
An intersection at the heart of Western Civilisation, where Holy Cross Street meets Solidarity Street, where Jerusalem Street meets the Street of the Generalissimo.
A small knot of huddled by-standers, who are waiting for the Parade of the Future to arrive, are grouped under a Palm Tree in which there sits a Committee Composed Wholly of Crows.
Enter a Man of No Fixed Abode.
Man: Excuse me, is this Wholly Crows Streets? Is this where to stand to see the Future?
Committee of Crows: No, gawd, no, no, gawd no, gawd!
Woman in Crowd: It’s Holy Cross Street.
Man: Holy Cross? Are you sure you’re not wrong?
Committee of Crows: Wrong! Wrong! Wrong wrong wrong!
Woman: Listen! It’s coming. The future is coming!
Committee of Crows: Wrong! Wrong!
From far down Jerusalem Street comes the rumble of tanks and motorbikes. The by-standers turn and look but the street remains empty.
From far down Solidarity Street comes the sound of a gypsy band and the muffled drums of revolution. The by-standers turn to look down Solidarity but the street is empty.
From the Street of the Holy Cross, far away, the sound of a heavenly choir mingled with sorrow and lamentation. The crowd turns, But empty again.
From the Street of the Generalissimo the screams of jets low overhead and bombs which shake the ground. Looking back over their shoulders down the empty Street of the Generalissimo, the small crowd flees into the other three streets. The crows take to the air and fly away over the rooftops. Silence, as in a play.
In the middle of the empty intersection, a manhole opens slowly. A scruffy black and white dog pushes its nose out and sniffs the air. The dog clambers out, trots across to the palm tree and lifts its leg.
Palm Tree: Here we go again.
The curtain drops quietly.
From Fool Moon (Auckland UP, 2004)
© Murray Edmond 2004
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