rain beyond the glass 
intensifies in sheets, wild
against apartments and 
hoardings, shudder of traffic
as we huddle in our interiority
the meal’s remnants sizzle to a crust.

one eye on the conditions
we’re counting umbrellas (1)
considering desserts (4) 
jellies, sticky rice, coconut, rambutan
and how poetry elevates everyday speech
the crackle of electrics and lit. things.

weather apps show mint and mango 
zones gif-looped on the tablecloth
show renewed river rises 
floods minor to major
water down the water glass.

we shrug into cardigans 
and summer throw-overs
tarry at the entrance 
the waiter in silk pyjamas 
bows, hands together – sawadti kha diners
Buddha says appearances are an illusion —

how beautiful tho

the puddled carpark
the servo, native grasses 
like the Tanami in Spring
a way through to
the cemetery, roses 
heavy heads before the rain.

---

Image: Photo by Jolly Yau on Unsplash. Sawadti (pronounced with long last syllable) – is a Thai greeting, farewell and generic blessing; the Tanami is a desert in north west central Australia; and Jasmine Rice is a Thai restaurant in Wollongong, ‘almost an institution in this town’ some say: not that you need all this explanation.

For music this morning, here’s the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Johnny Greenwood’s composition ‘Water‘ (Youtube).

This poem was written on unceded Wodi Wodi land.