Iron

Jordie Albiston

iron

 
 
things rust up when we least expect     I make you trouble &
drub the glim from your sheen     still you keep on keeping me
hug me for keeps     inspirit my sad little cluster of cells     spirit
me out of myself     atomise! atomise!     you get right in & I am
your fan your dumb devotee as you do kung fu with my pieces
& bits & rumble me on my way     things rust even for stars at
the top where you perch at the peak of the whole hit parade o!
hemoglobin honcho     stellar exec     boss of the nucleosynthesis
corp     everywhere always an excess of you & I am your junkie
siderophile     calling calling everything rusts but you say never-
mind     good days bad days the world is okay & peace yourself
inwardly     heroic meteoric     bear me again to the marital stage
where rusting rusting we float for a god-blink     sink like lungs
bring in the beautiful Age
 
 

Jordie Albiston has published eleven collections of poetry, as well as a handbook on poetic form. Her most recent titles are Euclid’s dog (2017) and warlines (2018). Jordie’s work has won many awards, including the Mary Gilmore Award and the 2010 NSW Premier’s Prize. She has an ongoing pre-occupation with mathematical constructs and constraints, and the possibilities offered in terms of poetic structure. She lives in Melbourne.