painting birch by Michael O’Brien

Photograph by Tapio Haaja

First published in Singapore in 2020 by proletaria.org Copyright © 2020 Michael O’Brien

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the birch fall silent and yet still more fear

exoskeleton he redrafts his husband

just as Munch finishes painting the birch we hide a body in it

finding its stride in antimatter a fox

you pray under a rowan and now you smell of olives

identifying the dead you take a break to watch the rain

over the sound of a motorbike the amusement park

being of a certain type of person a tiny red mammoth

appears on your arm

in front of a birch tree the wooden flagpole

if the child catches the spider it becomes a spider

renaissance pose stalling in the rain a digger

ancient canoe the sun over a housing estate

full moon  thinking about the email you never sent

wind through reeds the movie different again

 

sea wind sea  

About the Author

Michael O’Brien is the author of numerous collections, the most recent being Silent Age (Alien Buddha Press). His writing has been published widely in print and on the internet and has been translated into other languages. An extensive list of these publications can be found here. You can follow him on twitter @michaelobrien22

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