roosting ibis unknot her leafy brows
unpick her twigs
long shadow off her shoulders
entices mosquitoes into reeds
planted in mud
her one big leg bared
solid stance of a peasant woman
skirts hoicked above the surface
lace petticoats damp
at the hem
like fists at the sky her thickset
limbs defy
any storms that would see
her curly crown
electrified.
From: Jackson, Ross, “Recalcitrant paperbark” in Eureka Street.com.au, Vol. 28, No. 3, 11-Feb-2018, pp. 59-60.
(https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/uploads/file/pdf/new/180211.pdf)
Date: 2018
By: Ross Jackson (19??- )