october 2015
It's Their Wedding Day - essa ranapiri
Flies buzz
Cow tail
Flick the air
Piss off it’s their wedding day
Flags tethered to electric fence
Trapped in a pen
Clucking hens oblivious
Celebrate
Strangers in their very best
A stream of people
Trickle into the crowd
Wind into the shallows
Pink flowers dangle over the lip
Of the glass jar
Ginger hair and observation
Clipping the day into
A photo album
Logs for seats
Generic in their fine attire
Black suits summer dresses
Floral alignments
Autumn is tempted
Leaves let go
Shiver on new shoes
Quad for drinks
Liquor store on wheels
We have to keep hydrated on hot days like these
Plectrum on strings
Lower tone
You got me
The motor hums
Mop cut short
Musicians cleaned up
It would be cool living in that place
Shaded grass tides
Languorous blanket
Brown criss-crossed yellow
Stag horns protruding
Bunk beds
Soft ambiance, polite conversation
Oh how long has it been
And what have you been up to lately
And that sounds nice
Mingled with the wind
Shuffle
In a tight blue number
Stubble and nerves
The bride traditionally late
On time
Cows hum
Deep throated bass of the milk
Smile wave and turn
Tics
That you’ve adopted
The eco-system is that fragile
Trees boo and cheer
Or whatever it is trees do
Kids play chase
Through the maze
Of adult bodies
Dream catchers and Chinese lanterns
White sweaty hands ruffle the hair
Part it just right
Enough for the rest of your life
There’s no organ playing
Two letters in an equation
Packets of confetti
220SEB
The chariot
In maroon
Veil caught opening the door
Persuade it to run
Discuss the next move
Laugh it out
Slow motion procession
Flower girls then
Brides maids
Then
All stand
Wind takes the veil
Trip over words
Repeat sentimentalities
And that most human of looks
A glorious laugh
Staring
Into such bigness
Hold hands and
Take a
Plunge
The clap of a case
Fumble
They fit
Just right
Sweet as high five
You may kiss
Sign the register
Quivering flowers
A do-I-love-you warble over
Windswept ceremony
The very air shivers with joy
At something pretty fucking close
To love
MAKEDAMNSURE - essa ranapiri
You wrapped my neck in nylon you found by the rocks at the wharf
And attached tiny shells
Sliding each one into place
Naturally I showed my parents
Who didn’t know what to think of you
You bring down a forest in your attempts
To share your feelings
I like you
Is a story you never cease to illustrate
With the frame of your hazel eyes
Trying to trap a memory of me
You would spend each and every recess
Spying on me
Enlisting others into your
I-just-want-to-play-with-yoyos
Scheme
Checking the mail box is a habit
I know you took from me
Pulling scrunched up circulars
Through the slot
And you scared me when you took your
Hollow death threat
From a Taking Back Sunday song
You want to break me down?
My parents took it a lot more seriously than I did.
The school counsellor
Gave you a restraining order
Despite the fact
Every single class we took was the same
Your heart bled on your sleeve
And it became increasingly hard to avoid
The arterial spray
Bursting
Over the bush where you hid your
Pencil case for a laugh
For three years I had to survive
Under the barrage of your misplaced
Love
But I did
And I hope
I
Hope
Eight years from now
The guilt still weighs you down
Enough to write a poem about it
Contributor's Note
A person who lives halfway between reality and a dream. Has a world of words to share. Studies English and History. Will be finished soon.