East Coast Waves

 

Someone practicing a violin

who hasn’t practiced in a while,

a bike that has not been ridden

for a year or more

squeaks like that violin,

couples wonder who that person is

alongside whom they each walk,

facial muscles straining to relax

after 15 East Coast waves

performed rapid-fire,

at the dairy door

the lonesome existentialist

is writing words with water

on the concrete pavement stones,

while the pigeons in the phoenix palm

have eyes only for each other

 

Murray Edmond

 

 

Murray Edmond lives in Glen Eden, West Auckland. His latest book, Back Before You Know, includes two narrative poems, ‘The Ballad of Jonas Bones’ and ‘ The Fancier Pigeon’ (Compound Press, 2019).

Compound Press page