reflections in salt-water
Brent Cantwell (Macquarie University, Australia)
I have seen you running so many times before –
barefoot lightning
on the up-and-down wavelength
of a water line –
then you and the surf stumble back-
wards in the sand, tearing
down a black-mirror beach until a broken shell
tears the meaty part of your foot,
until the salt-water sting
and the scream bleed across the frequency –
but you don’t actually scream, or even tear up –
you shell-seam your lips
tight telling me reflectively
you are putting the sound somewhere
else so the pain of the tear is
the grey meatiness of the sky; the rough
stitch in your foot,
the washed-up needle-shell of the wind,
the bare skin
of reflection, in the blown-away light of a child –
Brent Cantwell is a New Zealand writer from Timaru, South Canterbury, who lives with his family in the hinterland of Queensland, Australia. He teaches high school English and is currently completing a Masters in Creative Writing at Macquarie University. He has recently published in Australian Poetry Journal, Poetry NZ, Landfall, Takahe and Foam:e.
