Cavatina
Robert James Berry
The sun's graffiti
has great things to say
more bleeding visions, blinding
the isthmus' car yards and portaloos
with its rising. Cumulus
mushroom into revelation
behind a dragon lair of volcanoes that
steam with sunrise.
The gulf, tragic with bloodshed
ill-omened enough for war
paints all the ocean scows with fire.
On the insect-creaking shore, inhale the oil
concrete and fish guts, the wharves
higher than sea salt.
Robert James Berry lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand. His work has been published widely. His first collection Smoke appeared in 2000 (UPM Press, Serdang, Malaysia: 2000). Since 2000 he has published Stone (Ginninderra Press, Canberra, Australia: 2004) and Seamark (Ginninderra Press, Canberra, Australia: 2004). He is currently preparing his fourth collection, Sky Writing, for publication.
Contents
Poetry
Nicholas Messenger ..............The New Capital
Kevin Higgins ........................Himself
Robert James Berry ...............Cavatina
Robert James Berry ...............The Crossing
Aoife Mannix ........................Play With Me
Prose
Tom Sheehan ........................Tylen Brackus
Liz Arnett .............................What The Spider Did