infill
in the paddock here
off the Dandaragan Rd
light rain drifts
it’s a waltz through young
thin head-high trees
planted 5 years ago
5 metres apart by machine
now by hand it’s a 7 step stretch
up n down, across the ruts
3 runs at a time
scan n search for infill
as tank shells rain in Gaza
and I’m in the paddock
this one K long paddock
under the fat cattle stare, we’re
fixing sugar gum holes, cladocalyx
with mallee form yorks
and eucalyptus camaldulensis
there’s a broken ceasefire in Gaza
and I’m in the paddock
at 7AM its a lupin dew shower
socks wet by 8 and a stiff breeze cuts cheek
traverse the white scalps
we drop in waves of bleached cloud
over couch grass, cape weed n white sticks
stuck to shin
and its summer in Gaza
and I’m in the paddock
and in a wheat paddock in Ukraine
bodies and aircraft parts and logos
rain on sunflowers
and I’m in the paddock
in the paddock
planting trees