RUTTING AURA

written 1966 for Hal

per sepia
a paradozy to acanaemics


up again in the heat of spring
& the grass was parched last summer
apple pied the autumn windrow
mashed pears to boot & I sigh

I see she tires of the fly moving over
her well lit body & would die
before having another fiddle in it

the mouse shifts about in the cupboard
flicking its pause to the ceiling
of that unplanished self

shall I tire myself down in oblivion
lying around roaring in dirt
Sweaty voice my sorrow
crack another curse
for my love is a black clock
will crow & must feed it

Dogbolt bring
on the marching girls
who with Hairyhot
are firm starters
like weasel so often said
if the stallion doesn't go on about it
there isn't much point

bursting is the very purple blackberry
they were always juicy
by the septic tank
scruffy that nice like brush
'stop mauling me you dirty old man'
the mouse did its bit in the cupboard
so you'd better be in the next rush

Lindsay Smith


This is a poem about SPRING. It is certainly rough enough & rustic. I worked on farms during holidays from a young age. At the time 1966 Hal Smith, no relative was Senior Lecturer in English @ Otago University, New Zealand & just went along with a few others to a poetry writing group that he ran informally. This poem was a parody of a poem Hal had written the week previously. I liked the rhythm he’d used so I just wrote a send up. Hal was delighted & over the years since when I've been in Dunedin I have called in to have a yarn. Hal was American, formerly Assoc Professor of English, Boston. He took his family to NZ far away from the climate of fear in the US at that time. What goes around comes around.

http://skyhooklindsaysmith.blogspot.com/