Death songs off the Logan Rd night;
And on the news, Blackhawks falling over Afghanistan.
Muk-Muk; the death bird, aptly named by my Elders,
Because Muk-Muk only appears to those
Who will soon be grieving.
Muk-Muk is as metronomically-challenged as the Curlew,
Another death-threat-carrying kindred,
But on this particular night I clearly hear Muk-Muk’s cuckoo-like tome.
Muk-Muk is a ‘roadie’ on a blackened stage
Testing sound equipment for a phantom audience.
Hoo-Hoo!
Hoo-Hoo!
Testing, 1, 2!
Testing, 1, 2!
Hoo-Hoo!
Hoo-Hoo!
Muk-Muk sings,
A ghecko chirps
And an ambulance siren wails!
Darkness comes to life, ironically, drowning out the death calls.
A light-rain then douses everything,
But soon, Muk-Muk begins his final encore.
I wander out onto the patio as my girlfriend sleeps,
I wonder of my Brother’s safety in Afghanistan?
The flight path culls short over the house,
And soon a storm of aluminium mullets, run a heavenly gutter,
The flight path is so close
It seems I could catch the red-eye from Sydney
By just raising my hand.
Swing-low a freedom-bird for my Brother,
And low-altitude traffic, to keep the death-bird at bay…
Bird-song of Imminent Death from Love Poems and Death Threats, which is extracted courtesy of University of Queensland Press.