Heian Diary
the upstart military
prefer a catwalk
downtown
where phantoms
glide out
to inspect the wreckage
once it’s all gone quiet
alongside the roadside
whereas this audience
will put on tails
and insignia
even for meetings
at a shed
in between gullies
just to admire
what the silver moths
have been doing
to the perishing fabric
of our diction
otherwise they concoct
heraldries of scent
to prove their gallantry
towards those women
who are suddenly
seat there
in the dusk
smouldering
with dim fragrance
amidst moist infernos
but that savourless
chrysanthenum is ours
that brims
at the mountain weirs
before floodlighting
the plain
with an integral tide
and only
the verandahs
seem to be stalked
by absent noons
from out of beds
of still shingle
Dunedin New Zealand
September 1995