(after the monoprint by Michael Donnelly)
Stars empty themselves –
no show tonight.
The Bowl opens its mouth
and your teeth shudder.
The ground contracts with cold:
you’re trembling.
Your head falls against the steel cables
the lights go off in Government house.
Far above you the Arts Centre spire
extends its white finger into the night:
gulls circle crying
holy holy holy
Down here
a Leunig festival of weeping
alone in the dark
while Government house is sleeping.
Stars get nailed to the night sky.
You take the silence
for an answer.
This poem was written for The Disappearing, an app that (literally) explores poetry and place, which you
Cathy Altmann is a Melbourne poet, teacher and musician. Her poetry has been published on Melbourne’s trains and in numerous journals and anthologies and is now a part of The Red Room Company’s Disappearing App. Cathy has read and played violin at poetry events throughout Melbourne. In 2012 she travelled to Darwin’s WordStorm festival to read her work and run a poetry workshop.
