Post-ecopoetic poem


I stan this leaf 

I’m sweating from my knees
in February

each time I fall 
I vow to pick myself up & create 
a beautiful bouquet of weeds (poems)
for you

laying on my back 
in my lunchbreak 
instead of taking the day 
as unpaid leave

the forecast said 34
but it’s surely less
underneath this canopy

pleasant & bucolic
were it not for the car race
complicating in the sonic foliage

one day for rest 
one for partying 
one for personal admin
that’s what we’re fighting for    right leaf?

apparently its good for anxiety sufferers
to walk barefoot over rocks
& all of a sudden I am living for the dry creek bed

no one is talking about
the weight of sky against cloud
of the tree’s outline against cloud against sky 

I like staying at my sister’s house 
so I can indulge in crap tv & Arizona iced tea

I’m enjoying my first cup of coffee for the day 
despite having had two already

I guess it’s sort of meditative(?)
sitting quietly in nature

thinking:    where are your friends tonight?

it’s as if Elon Musk took over the hive
& now all the bees are disappearing 

I love how nonbinary clouds are

I am still 
   long enough for my eyes 
to pixelate 

Image: Shawn Kenessey

Dominic Symes

Dominic Symes lives quietly in Naarm. He writes poetry, some of which has been published in Australian journals and anthologies, and the best of which appears in his debut collection, I Saw the Best Memes of My Generation (Recent Work Press, 2022).

More by Dominic Symes ›

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