on the river

it was a drive through the sleeping industrial giants

and thirty minutes before a flight

along Brisbane’s vein of union disputes

to a secluded spot on the river’s edge

with its cold sea breezes and dead things,

we kissed

and said goodbye

discovering that we both had feelings for deserted factories

and abandoned mechanical bits

and for each other

thirty minutes before a flight

and two writers can’t find the words

to ease the tearing of departure

serenaded by a blow-torch on a rusting iron hulk upon the water

grey smoke billowing from the old power station

the landscape studded with electric fences and weeds

her and I at home amongst it all

we kissed

and said goodbye