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Day Two
VIII. SONGS OF SURVIVAL & EXTINCTION
3. Kangaroo Countdown
It's gettin'
Dry.
Soon
It'll be on again.
Running over kangaroos on the roads.
Shootin'
For the roo works.
The big reds are almost gone.
Next winter there'll
Be 4.
Next 3-4.
Following summer
1.
After that
None.
Jerry came in with some cakes from the bakery.
Big news for the day was that someone had spotted
A kangaroo, over six foot.
Dad said, "Bullshit, I 'aven't seen any kangaroo in 3 months
& I 'aven't seen a yellow belly in 40 years."
(They've been caught before they know it's wrong)
We look for signs,
Test the sand, taste the daylight on our tongues.
We look for kangaroos.
We look for budgerygahs & brush turkeys.
We walk lightly.
We look for wildflowers.
But we see none.
Dad said 5,4,3,2,1.
Then nothing.
Finished.
Does the outback regenerate?
I wait for signs.
Sun & wind & kangaroo.
Because I am here, calling out to them, they must come
Soon.
I wait for days, for years, for change,
But still nothing happens,
Just more dust,
Silence.
We're finished.
I wait as still as stone, while the
Sand moves across me, until
A few layers of my skin blow away.
They must be coming soon.
Then
It's time to open my eyes again
& walk with a strong heart
In front of me.
There are very few kangaroos, no pigs,
No emus
& for a second,
I thought I heard the birds return.
But it was just the wind, fluttering through a bottle,
The hollow noise in a car diff, empty of oil & towards the west,
Kangaroo shooting boxes, turning as white as ghosts
The big sun striking their sides. |
