Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Samuel Wagan Watson

Fire

Fire

Fire

Fire-engine flash of fox pelt
And a plume of tail
Fluffy . . . like some oil-well ablaze on a Gulf War postcard
And from the body
It was fleeing at a 2 o’clock incline

Almost innocent in the ebb of dawn
Above the vineyards at Booranga
Sauntering erratically
As a red beacon
Across the screen of a life-support monitor

Up and down and away
This alien enigma upon Wiradjuri skin . . .
Close

Fire

Fire-engine flash of fox pelt
And a plume of tail
Fluffy . . . like some oil-well ablaze on a Gulf War postcard
And from the body
It was fleeing at a 2 o’clock incline

Almost innocent in the ebb of dawn
Above the vineyards at Booranga
Sauntering erratically
As a red beacon
Across the screen of a life-support monitor

Up and down and away
This alien enigma upon Wiradjuri skin . . .

Fire

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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