The Picnic
Shari Kocher (University of Melbourne, Australia)
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Sun-lit shade on pine needles, a granite
ledge, the sound of water trickling: luminous
as pigeons, or the red bulge of a cactus
flower that blooms once a year at midnight.
Pine cones fall. The world expands. Light
as air we sway on branches whose shadows
lift us, dreaming, to a space where roses
let fall petals made of wood, and the kite
we’ve lost is the midday moon, tethered to a tree.
Pine-bark sticky with ants and sap, and a sky-line
tilting ever higher. Take me to the moon, the moon!
I tease. You reel me in, How about Eterni-Tea?
The baby burbles on the rug. The sun shines
on your feet. Your nails flash like spoons.
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Shari Kocher has lived in many places, including Dublin, and now resides between the Yarra Valley and Melbourne where she is undertaking a Masters in Creative Writing at Melbourne University. Her work has been published in various journals including Blue Dog, Famous Reporter and Overland, and in 2002 she was the winner of the UNE Literary Award (Open Poetry Section) for her sequence poem ‘Unborn Child’. She is currently working on her first poetry collection.
