Another shirt ruined

the new calf breathing with me

ear to heart 

my head on the tree fern curve

each of us too tired to rise

the gully folded about us

sliding down the steepness

to the road’s bend

over to the yards

her mother calling

a mouth finds my finger

searching for milk

eyes wide between

fear and comfort

sepia beyond words

she lets me hold her face

this world slips into gear

resting on the back veranda

arms round my knees

in a hello

the king parrots hang upside down

a shelf of splashed paints

fall to pick the ground

my toes disappointing seeds.