is the music played for spills of vital
force    taciturn the violin    still the
metronome    the birds are always first to
know    a murmuration leaves    then the dogs
who sniff the wind & go    & when you wake

to world again you have no industry
but this    wretchedness conducting nerve to
ground    & it bothers you & bothers you
as though it were a thorn    another dawn
upon December    broken & profound

Jordie Albiston

Jordie Albiston’s new collection, Warlines, is published by Hybrid Publishers.