Valleys

the                           hued emerald thickets of
desire to                        lace fling themselves
have a cold like                       at the vigilante
this one? in the air                         doves i’the
ask the developed world                       shade
about life & ambitions suffer                        s
punishment for being a lovely per
son a weak friend this is not                       all
a mass high-five or even                      people
fatigue mum said rest                  dream of a
in bed or on a                            sense of speed
bright me                             a grouped psycho
ado                                   logical inheritance to
w                         cut thru hazards & break up
                the walls of sound of atmospheric
u                         bands on both sides of the rr
rude                           room guards rotate like
waves of                                 news & elevate to
magic carpet                         the top deck as i
produced real suns i                   lluminate &
fire halfway up the walls                      shift g
the attack of surround sound                ears
floodlights on the steering wheel
Amelie & i bounced behind                           a
unclothed & breasted by                         body
the waves at sea we                        drew back
were done in                             a view of dawn
a hull of a                        black hearth & lamp
night                            one reels as time wells

(published in Best Australian Poems 2013)

Toby Fitch’s Rawshock was a co-winner of the Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 2012. It can be purchased directly through http://puncherandwattmann.com/books/book/rawshock