New Poetry by Erina Booker

Out of Mind

so focused

on the fifth anniversary

creeping up

since the fourth

driving the road

beside the river

swinging the bends

outlining the solid sandstone

surmounted with tall trees

draped with runnels of water

it’s only as I turn

into the entrance

of the Gardens

that I’m shocked to remember

I have three

immediate family members here

I blink the sting

my mind saturated

brimming with only one

I turn into the ‘Bushland’ section

of native plants and trees –

though he loved roses

that section was crammed

cheek by jowl

with no space

to sit and contemplate

the manager drove me

to different sections

across the grass

and ‘Bushland’ screamed

your name

on the boundary 

of the grounds

black cockatoos

glide the sky

corkscrew-banksias

ugly-nice

rock orchids

bursting orgasms

of bloom

niches were available

in the tier named ‘Eucalypt’

I bought one

then returned to buy

the vacant one next-door

I showed him photos

when he wanted

showed him 

my next-door niche –

I’ll be there

I’m coming too

but this day,

this fifth anniversary,

I’d forgotten

it was only as I made to leave

that I remembered

(I should have cleaned out

the dead leaves)

how could I have shock-forgot?

the Sheltie and I 

returned to the car

strapped in

looked back at all

the new plots

invading the lawns

people just keep dying

left onto the main circuit

I feel I should stop

for Dad and Pam

but I can’t be bothered

I was out of my mind

about you

- © Erina Booker 2023

Erina Booker is a Sydney-based poet. She has published nine collections of her work, and contributes to journals and anthologies, internationally, nationally, and online. She enjoys giving recitals, seminars, and judging competitions. Erina has a Major in Literature within her Bachelor of Arts degree, and a Postgraduate Degree in Counselling. She knows the value of words and the pauses between them.