three more poems

Degrees of Certainty

if you’d studied nursing, you’d be at work by now

not attending a lecture on an abstract noun

studying with a degree of uncertainty

certainly

the work would be hard, the pay low

(patients require much patience, according to medical shows)

but at least you’d have the Degree

caring is practically a universal language

unlike the philosophical abstractions which

you can never claim to understand with certainty

certainly

you’d have to work the night shift

but your husband could tell the children you’re a witch

and they’d laugh and say “she’s not!” while secretly believing it, to a degree

but it does no good to imagine when

decisions made upon a whim

commit you to a Degree of Uncertainty

About a ring

I bought a ring to replace the one I lost

now my finger feels complete

if only I could say the same                                

Northern Territory Intervention

Because of the intervention

the town was filled with them.

They were camping in the Todd

taking advantage of its dry sandy bed

(we would later see their campfires

as we drove back from a local restaurant).

But during the day they simply

leaned against trees    shops    churches

sat on grass    steps    pavement.

It was meant to be a holiday.

Two weeks away.

Learning about the red centre.

Hands on. Adventurous.

But first – tired from the

flight – we found some

local markets and wandered around.

Because of the intervention

it was hard to look at them.

I wanted to say something,

let them know I was on their side.

“I am ideologically opposed.”

But I was awed by the

insufficiency of my words –

my own ignorance – my political mindset,

so divorced from the reality of their lives.

Because of the intervention

I forced myself to look at them.

I made eye contact with an old man.

He was leaning against a tree,

watching the busy market.

I made eye contact, but he didn’t.

He looked through me

but in his eyes I saw a landscape,

and I moved on hurriedly

unsettled by his stillness

so incongruous with my own

fast paced world.

It didn’t last, but for a second

I understood.

And I mourned for the

souls that were left behind

when we conquered this land.