Magpie songs
Humidity at daybreak
I watch the skies
Bloom blue
Thinking of you

Hot coffee dripping
The breaking of bread
Thick butter and jam
Maybe croissant instead

What I would trade
To have those moments with you again

Macadamia tree
Sour green mangoes laced with chilli
Corinda, QLD, circa 2003

My Grand-Mère bundles her long skirt in one hand
Holding a bag of mince scraps in the other
The fly screen door slamming behind her
She is greeted by two magpies
A child and her mother
They give her playful attention
Tilted heads and black eyes
Introducing the next generation

Grandmother magpie will die on land she was born on
And you will be oceans from yours
Her descendants will take the same skies
Her cycle continues
And your house will be sold
To settle Will disputes
Your children
Unable to even be in the same room
Hurt running deep from those who know best

I haven’t been back to your house since you left
I don’t know if the Magpie still watches from afar
Or the tropical flowers you cut from the front yard
And placed on your alter
For your god
For your paradise
Away

I led the Rosary
When news arrived
That your husband had died
Kneeling on worn carpet
In front of the Virgin Mother
Earnestly reciting prayers
I never thought I would use
Beads sliding through my fingers
Pleading with the lord
To comfort you

Immersed in paradise
I wonder if you remember me
Does family even matter
When you’re enjoying eternity
If God locks the door on my arrival
Will you see
I am not welcome
In your heaven
And will never be