blackmail press 17
Lora Mountjoy
new zealand
index
Bio:
In mid twenties: gave up writing due to (a). perceived global oversupply of printed words. (b). other interests. 1978: Began writing again at Tokomaru Bay. Published  poetry in Broadsheet around then. Other writing followed; some printed, some spoken in public, some kept in a  drawer.
FRAMING/1

In such a life
nothing can bleed
past this styptic
edge
this box
this boundary

one side is pressed
to the straight side
the other waves
randomly
into a border of
autumn trees

is it time to go
unconditional?
   
  



FRAMING/2

In Wellington I stay
with my friend Howard
who wakes at dawn for strong coffee
and tai chi
His days are spent framing
art and credentials
for wealthy Karori folk.
I don't tell him
that in my bag is a frame
bought at the Warehouse for $10.
I have already slipped
this blown up snapshot
between its thin glass front
and cardboard back.
On Sunday my mother will be 94
and far away in Coromandel
I will present to her
this record of the summer past
hoping that as she sees it
thoughts will come
of those who love her
on  whom she doted once
before fickle memory chose
to leave everything except
the present moment
outside the frame.

 



Teenage boys

Flicking grown-up truth
Like a coin
Choosing
On the toss

Not looking for trouble
Not running away from it either
Testosterone walk
Group clone

Every one has a name
Leo Tommie KJ Tai
and the best shoes
to stand or run

Invincible fragile bodies
Rushing into
The diffracting surf.