Bearbrass Dawn

The late night river is a languid serpent

her murky skin reflecting the cityscape

kaleidoscope of refractions

gentle tides ebb & flow into the bay

silt stirring the murk of disturbed memories

dredges hover abandoned.



Flotsam & jetsam collects

in the skimming nets

fast food wrappers & tourist maps

baseball caps & a message in a bottle

as morningtide cleanses & makes new.



Searats float sharp-eyed on high for scraps

as their aviary skyrat cousins flock

on the wing in homing circles

spreading the filth

of the twenty-first century capitalist metropolis.



Restaurants vomit tonnes of wastage

kitchen hands stagger past homeless people

to post their nightsoil & daily landfill

green garbage bags split at the seams

with the off cuts of fresh produce

plate-leavings of disposable income diners.



Rubbish overflows out of bins

gathers in gutters & gardens

as cigarette butts eddy & swirl

in the lee of doorways

dumpsters in dark alleys groan & strain

metal wheels on blue cobblestone

the miasma of their contents

wafting on the light night breezes.



After the shouts in the night

cries of the fallen

& the delirious laughter

of young bright souls

dawn approaches in practiced stealth.



Recycle-bins resounding

in back alleys all night

finally go quiet

as the last of the garbage is hauled.



broken bottles & violent vomit

are disappeared by machines of public sanitation

public transport groans back to life

to cart away what stragglers

the taxis wouldn't take.



The last of the clubs shut down

& the bouncers in all-hours hotels

take in another hit

of caffeine/nicotine/amphetamine

to keep sandy eyes wide.



Paddy-wagons ghost down deserted streets

to put the last drunks up

for a few hours of lock-up sober-up.



With no native birds to sing the dawn

the sun is left to its own devices

day breaks over the awakening city

reflected by a million windows

brilliant in its horizontal immensity.