Monday

Love in Wartime (2006)


Cover Image & design: Bronwyn Lloyd



(December 25, 2006) Love in Wartime. Wellington: Pania Press, 2006. 20 pp. [gift edition of 10 copies / signed edition of 30 copies].
    Carl sniffed (12/1-8/3/03)
  1. Porphyry skyline (26/2-1/3/03)
  2. Rhinoceros (13/2-1/3/03)
  3. Entering the world again (11/1-2/3/03)
    4. SEX is natural (8-10/3/03)
  4. Bright Flowers (10-11/3/03)
  5. You just don’t have the sympathy (10/2-1/3/03)
  6. Stops when you watch it (17/8/02-6/3/03)

    7. The Miracle (4-13/8/06)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • E M O. ISBN 978-1-877441-07-3. Auckland: Titus Books, 2008.
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 88.

Notes:
  • The epigraph to this sequence, from Tina Shaw’s “Street Scene,” is taken from An Affair of the Heart: A Celebration of Frank Sargeson’s Centenary, edited by Graeme Lay and Stephen Stratford (Auckland: Cape Catley, 2003) 141-45.




For Bronwyn



•

Jack Ross: Love in Wartime (2006-7)



In the mother tongue it mostly means fear.
– Tina Shaw, “Street Scene” (2002)







•




  Carl sniffed.
  Magda’s perfume: Nuits d’amour.
  He ran his finger along the top of the mantelpiece.
  Traces of dust.
  She wasn’t back, then.
  Walking over to the window, he stared into the narrow yard.
  Winter had stripped the fruit trees bare.
  It seemed impossible they should ever be green again.
  His mouth filled reminiscently with the taste of plums; Magda 
peeling them, carefully; segmenting each one; feeding him his piece,
then eating her own; laughing; saying … what had she said?
  Her voice could not be revived in this cold room.


(12/1-8/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 88.



•





KISS
DON’T
KILL
– girl’s t-shirt



Porphyry skyline
hanging gardens
of Metropolis

the Viaduct
the Swiss flag
flying high

Rough Rider
condoms
Plumbing Plus

Parallel park
behind a white Corolla
Café Mocha

rain


(26/2-1/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 89.



•




•





Never trust a guy
in a Dr Seuss hat
Never trust a car
with pandas in the back
– old rhyme



Rhinoceros
    leather round the loins

la casa de
    Buena Siesta

Lollop along
    beside your dog

Psychic children?
    Raise your hands

(One waves at me
    I, back)

Smear jam around
    the fissure

leave the body dead


(13/2-1/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 90.



•


  Carl sniffed.
  He ran his finger along the top of the mantelpiece.
  Her voice could not be revived in this cold room.
  His mouth filled reminiscently with the taste of plums; Magda 
peeling them, carefully; segmenting each one; feeding him his piece,
then eating her own; laughing; saying … what had she said?
  It seemed impossible they should ever be green again.
  Magda’s perfume: Nuits d’amour.
  She wasn’t back, then.
  Traces of dust.
  Walking over to the window, he stared into the narrow yard.
  Winter had stripped the fruit trees bare.



•





Look at these hoofprints
Brett didn’t destroy your project, Griff
a wild mare did
– Caitlin’s Way



Entering the world again
    like swimming up to
wards a membrane

a meniscus
    you never told me
what it cost you

talking down the
    irredentist
self

a pious canting rogue
    the picture’s fuzzy
if you choke

you’re fucked


(11/1-2/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 92.



•





SEX
is natural

Your lubricant
should be too!

Sylk is made from an extract
of the Kiwifruit vine
(clever little plant!)
and is 99.84% natural
with a tiny .16%
of Phenonip
a gentle anti-bactriol

Voted Best Lubricant by 
Aust Men’s Health
Magazine, Jan 2001


(8-10/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 93.



•





You have a divine animal right
to protect your own life &
the life of your offspring
– Enough



    Bright flowers
on a dark day

    D’you work round here?
OK Gift Shop

    two birds fly past
the spire

    Crows
above a Cornfield

    Red Meat
Feel Good

    Just as I thought
trade’s brisk

on sunny days


(10-11/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 94.



•


  Winter had stripped the fruit trees bare.
  Walking over to the window, he stared into the narrow yard.
  Traces of dust.
  She wasn’t back, then.
  Magda’s perfume: Nuits d’amour.
  It seemed impossible they should ever be green again.
  His mouth filled reminiscently with the taste of plums; Magda 
peeling them, carefully; segmenting each one; feeding him his piece,
then eating her own; laughing; saying … what had she said?
  Her voice could not be revived in this cold room.
  He ran his finger along the top of the mantelpiece.
  Carl sniffed.



•





Buy yourself an ice-cream
We’ve got more fun than you’ve ever seen
– billboard



You just don’t have the sympathy for them
you have for your own kind

6,000 pedestrians killed each year
They step out in front of cars

They cut off small children’s genitals
The police have been trying to stop it

for 300 years
Just telling the truth

This is Sierra Leone
He shot eight times and hit me once

He was a lecturer at the college
his wife and children

gang-raped in front of his eyes


(10/2-1/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 96.



•




•





Kiwi Valley:
Café, Kindy, Maze & Rides
– cinema ad



Stops when you watch it
    sun glinting off
the grains of sand

wind-squalls
    north end of
Anawhata

out of the corner
    of one eye
the marram grass

signs
    signals
sings

it’s you


(17/8/02-6/3/03)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [pamphlet] (March 24, 2003).
  • "Love in Wartime." Pania Press (9/12/06)
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Love in Wartime [limited edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2007).
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 97.



•


  Her voice could not be revived in this cold room.
  His mouth filled reminiscently with the taste of plums; Magda
peeling them, carefully; segmenting each one; feeding him his piece,
then eating her own; laughing; saying … what had she said?
  It seemed impossible they should ever be green again.
  Winter had stripped the fruit trees bare.
  Walking over to the window, he stared into the narrow yard.
  She wasn’t back, then.
  Traces of dust.
  He ran his finger along the top of the mantelpiece.
  Magda’s perfume: Nuits d’amour.
  Carl sniffed.



•




•




The four tuis in the tree
are back    clearly something
there they like    yellow
bell-shaped flowers

Bronwyn’s cooking toffee
squares in the next
room    sun angling
down the hill

Are you mid-thought?
she asks me    signs & omens
Mairangi on a bus    3 x 13
the boombox sings

The miracle is you & me


(4-13/8/06)

Publications:
  • Love in Wartime [gift edition] (Wellington: Pania Press, 2006).
  • Dear Heart: 150 New Zealand Love Poems. Edited by Paula Green. ISBN 978-1-86979-762-1 (Auckland: Godwit, 2012): 55.
  • A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981-2014. ISBN: 978-0-473-29640-7 (Wellington: HeadworX, 2014): 99.



•



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