RABBIT SCREAM
at last a petrol station/ damn hot/ dogs leaping out
of the holden/ binda is the second dog's name/
meaning deep water/ kindi is kindling fire/
i fill
the holden to overflow & get some water from the
restroom basin/ within minutes the three of us are
soaking/
beyond us miles upon miles of waist high
grass/ shifting & riddled with sharp dead seeds/ we
find a tree/
all is quiet/ heart thumping weather/
a rest area/ but then movement/
binda pounding
through the grass/ lightning fast/ lolloping/ he is
after something/ it is food/ he will kill/ dogs
generally do/ no/ no/ i scream his name/
thunder
bellowing/ pounding through the grass towards him/
rabbit chase/ binda/ no binda/ ripples on the deep
water/ but instincts being deeper/ no binda/
rabbit
with a chance/ rabbit dance/ rabbit between his
paws/ i can't reach/ they each bounce/ behind a clump
of western grass/
binda lightning closing in/ kindi
behind me/ rabbit scream/
i stop in my tracks/ my
calves burning/ forehead pounding/ blood/ blood/ it's
my dog/ my responsibility/ my fault/ my dog/
then
binda bringing the rabbit towards me/ by the scrag
of the neck/ pleased with himself/ city dog/ look i
found meat/ he drops it at my feet/ a small dead
rabbit/ its eyes diseased/
i am with the rabbit/
dogs moving behind me/ i squat in the dry grass
massaging its body/ i see it breathing/ then a heart
beat/ then its eyes are seeing/
but it is only a
trick/ a trickle of breeze through fur/ nothing
more/
breeze gently stroking the velvet grey ears of
the rabbit/ taking the rabbit with it/ into the sun/
i listen/
dogs in the background/ smelling the body/
feeling sorry for bringing the rabbit to me/ yet not
knowing why they are sorry/
silent dogs/ city dogs/
watching me/
the rabbit is dead/ its warm body hangs
in my hands/ its neck long & broken/ belly fur
tangled with grass seed/ its body lean/
no puncture
marks/ no blood/ but that terrible moment of rabbit
scream/ before silence/
the silence of dying/ soon
the fur is sweating on me/
i will bring the rabbit
back into body/ i am a rabbit shaman/ i chant grass
song/ i will it to return/
for a second there is
breath/ but the awful eyes/ the terrified stillness/
the rabbit is dead/
rabbit scream has left the body
& hangs still in the air/ like a vibration/ a
quivering lung/
i am left lifting the body from the
ground/ kneading its breast/ needing its life/
turning it over & over in my hands like warmth/
but
the life has gone/ the blood grows hard/ ants wait
for its eyes/ the petrol station crows nearby/
rabbit scream leaving this place/ hanging in the air
beneath the tree/ midday heat/ dogs in the car
waiting for me | 
