Above
we exchange peanuts with strangerschoose a watch from the in-flight magazinesomewhere to aspire toother than here
we block the coughs of bodiesbury our heads in a beverage cartbarely looking down
in so much perspectiveremoved from the wrap of placewe are giddy
we exercise our rightto walk about the cabinchoose from the menusmall measures of controlmake us bigger thanthe blue out the window
Below
the shadow of a planeover yellow-greenlandscape woven riversdifferent streaks, crops, billabongsmiles of belly-flop bluethe peter-out of cloudsmears of vesselsfishing boats long gonein the drown
Escalator
a ladder in constant climbeach step falling away to flatnessprogress dissolvingthey squeal as they unhinge
The mission kitchen
the donated knivesare not sharp enough to cut onionor score a scone
all around methe peel of blunt skinnedhard vegetable that no-one wants
knuckles gnarled with rustdiscarded weapons
beneath the constant hack ofsmokers' breath and gravel talka musical shaking out of pockets
No substitute
you asked granny where she got her stickwanted one that didn't look oldor ugly
a wooden sturdy pokerit helped on the days when you couldn't feel the floorbut was no substitute fora seat on the tram when you don't looksick or expecting
you clutch to the raila numbness you can't explain
Smile
you contorttwitches at the sideweak at first you checkthe register against the lighttheir eyes
looks more like a grimace when youcatch it in the window
you coerce it to the same side of the streetand swing on itbags in your armsto home
Bronwyn Evans is studying a Graduate Diploma of Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. Her poetry has been published in Page Seventeen and the South Townsville micro poetry journal. She was awarded 'Best Environmental Poem' in the Elwood Poetry Prize 2012. She was a contributing editor of 28 People Write, a 2012 anthology of Australian writing by Bayside writers.