SMALL ADJUSTMENTS Poem by Jane Gibian

a brutal wind sheets of bark
turning through the air
everywhere bull-ants and the smaller

scurriers of leaf litter
build their tower of words
searching for length along the spine

can you will the sky to clear
push away cloud with a breath
a wound in the eucalypt bleeding

red glass asks for small adjustments
to reason the older wound closed over
into a knobbled knee-cap

imperceptible changes a spider's skeleton
shed with care held firmly
in the mind lobes of ruby grapefruit

each segment a glistening thought
amongst the desire to hold
multiples

buds swelling
at the stubs of gnarled arms
the louche calls of twilight