We / feel cooler / in dry air

Parts of the morning collide
with the eventual winner

of the home & away series.
Not much is left. A few shards

cause craters in the eyes, a part-
pennant does pennance as it

wraps around the nearest set
of ankles. Then a dog sled ar-

rives, still moist with snow. We
welcome it with closed arms.

elephant cup cakes

           ‘ Pachyderms and pastry! I love it.’   Tom Beckett

That a pachyderm is highly comp-
etitive in the global pastry market
does not adequately capture the true
sense of how unlikely scenarios such
as this are. Those Instagram influencers
who talked this up were all probably
tickled by the ivory. Money may have
changed hands. But the natural attri-
butes of the animal are ideal for the
task — tusks, tail, trunk; all master
mixers — why be surprised? & those
feet! Pancakes galore. The perfect size
for carving out cheesecake casings.

A line from Billie Jean King

An exciting update is coming.
A chart’s been prepared to
illustrate the main points. Small
popups will appear that use

colour & typography to provoke
a psychological reaction. There’s
certainly a place for that, simple
or complex, since we are both

made up of energy & used to
the use of icons to represent
emotions. It won’t be that long
before you have command of

the update, can use all parts of
it intuitively. Savour the small win —
this victory is fleeting. Another
update is now only days away.

Hosomaki

The queue outside the sushi
bar melts into one another
as the bagpipes suddenly
arrive. Raw fish & rice is no
match for tartan, even one
only rarely worn. That’s the

problem with living in a
garrison city — too many con-
tradictions, too much bias.
Too few true conflicts. Which
is why the military make what
they can out of what’s available.

A Paumanok Picture

Later, when the road
had opened,

Walt Whitman
was allowed to pass.

Mark Young was born in New Zealand but now lives in a small town in North Queensland in Australia. He has been publishing poetry for over sixty years, & is the author of around sixty books, primarily text poetry but also including speculative fiction, vispo, creative non-fiction, & art history. His most recent book is The Sasquatch Walks Among Us, from sandy press, available through Amazon.

You can find more of Marks’ work here on Ink Pantry.