CATWALK
i found baldy wedged in between
the next-door neighbour's rockery
& the grey fence/ baldy was a
fifteen-year-old walking cat
masterpiece/ now he is black &
white slop/ the air around the
rocks heavier than his body/ an
odd puddle in his centre/ fur
filled with grey water/ who cares
about a dead cat anyway?/ hidden
away from sunlight like fungi/
cats are supposed to go away to
die/ & i would never have found
him/ but for the baking sun which
left him stinking/ & at the back
of the woolworths store where i
worked/ they have bulldozed in
the reedy creek/ that held my
childhood hope for platypus/ the
creek flowed past the supermarket
where i ran with trolleys/ until
there was too much bloodshed over
the checkout counter/ from a pig's
trotters & head/ & too much
aerosol & detergent/ so i left/
& i thought of the flocks of
galahs & corellas fleeing dubbo
& nyngan after being shot out &
gassed/ & their hot flight to
brewarrina beneath the formations
of aircraft on their way inland/
at night my tough grandfather
would come to pick me up from
work/ in his bottle green over-
coat & parramatta beanie with
his big chunk of wood/ he said:
if any hoodlum comes near us i'll
give 'em this/ i looked into my
pay packet envelope containing
$19.80/ always thankful for his
company on the dark road home/
i said: my life's not worth two
bob out here/ it's worth nothing
pop/ then he said: give the lot
of 'em to me/ i'll castrate the
bastards/ chop off their balls/
i'll do it myself/ i want them/
when i asked him: what would
you do with them?/ he said: feed
'em to the cats | 
