The house in summer

 

The house is different in summer.

The fibro-walls absorb the heat

And hold it jealously through

Insomnic nights of sweat

 

Plagues of big cockroaches -

American ones, Baygon

helpfully advises -

Scutter over the floors, especially at night

When I hear them patter and scuffle,

As loud as mice

 

The old bathroom basin struggles worse than ever to drain

And it throws back at us

Soap scum, beard chips and other treasures thought lost

 

This last heatwave I've been sleeping on the porch

And I like the way the half-wall

Hides me from the street, no-one suspecting I'm there

And I find the smoking mosquito coil comforting;

It smells like holidays in Busselton,

Back in the 80s, when I was a kid.

 

- 23/12/02