I am a Melbourne poet and have two collections of poetry published by Ginninderra Press.... Polishing the Silver (2006)and Weight of Snow (2013).

Jennifer Chrystie

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Bird Stitchers

After Mirranda Burton, "Bird Stitchers"
linocut; inks on paper

A kookaburra sits
where your heart would be
had it not burst

suffusing your whole body
with scarlet
and splitting the seams

Burst with sorrow for the birds
who fly further each year
from their old haunts

destroyed by fire, drought
or encroachment by man
and who now patch you up

with scissors, thread, song
and a ring of the tiniest safety pins
to make a New Age scarecrow