blazing wattle –

the splendour

of yellow

a ladybird

on the mock-orange

finds the sun

in the distance

the stillness

of trees leafing

Count up to spring,

it’s time to sing

with wattles golden, bright

and magpies – what a sight

as you’re walking through the bush –

such a perfect hush

and you want a lyrebird to surprise you

along with maybe, a kangaroo.

© Katherine Gallagher

Moon-talk

Moon, creamy white stone,

precious . . . Stick with the legends –

better at a distance.

My litany could go on –

I don’t want to visit,

take a machine-ride against gravity

brain-open.

But if I change my mind

Moon won’t have any

say in it.

©Katherine Gallagher

(Published in The Eye’s Circle, Rigmarole Press)

I’m mad about . . .

I’m mad about honey

that’s runny and funny

I’m mad about cheese

that grows on old trees

I’m mad about chilli

that’s spice-cool and silly

I’m mad about eggs

and rainbow-striped veg

I’m mad about jam

on speckled green ham

I’m mad about pepper

the hotter the better

Dog

Dog waits in and out of shadows.

Dog dives around chairs and feet.

Dog looks for the spill of hands.

Dog sings the Ballad of Less and More.

Dog sleeps with one eye open.

Dog’s life isn’t negotiable.

Dog circles moons of language.

Dog barks for homecomings.

Dog is a name away.

Remember you can’t lose Dog.

Sooner or later, Dog will find you.

©Katherine Gallagher, 2018

Circus-Apprentice

I’m learning it all – acrobatics, clowning,

riding bareback and trapeze,

fire from a sleeve: my hand’s a wand.

I weave my life around dancing elephants

who spray the air while turning their backs

on the crowd;

lions who never put a foot wrong.

I’m taking their cue, I’ve seen

what people want.

Prancing ponies teach me steps:

pacing, adroitness, like my fellow-dancers

keeping their spot.

I’m walking the high-wire, making my mark

poised, balanced, don ’t look away –

you are my gravity’s other edge.

© Katherine Gallagher

(Published in Carnival-Edge: New & Selected Poems (Arc Publications, 2010)