A selection from the 1999 issues of paper wasp

fetching firewood
I open the door
to moonlight

fast food slower in the winter chill

splashing
down the hillside
wet sunshine

cathedral rock
so aptly named
we whisper

summer heat
measured in the length
of the sleeping cat

crack
in the bus windscreen
extending
our sunshine

shadow of my hand reaches the light switch first

Janice M. Bostok

midnight thirst
drinking from cupped hands
- a moth's closed wings

yesterday's walk -
the dog's and my footprints
still in clay

Catherine Mair

clouds over the moon
wind and owl's shadow
calling

her card in the mail
camellia buds
just opening

fountain...
so still the carp
under these lilies

her nipples hardening
under the soft blouse ...
white apple blossom

hearing my father's voice
in the empty hall

john knight

the humid attic
brushes an outstretched hand
a single butterfly

late september rain
cutting through the lane
and the mist

Alan J Summers

at the reclining
Buddha a young monk swaps
glares with a stray cat

one cloud
moves on the freeway
butterflies

wind howls
at grain silos above
the cemetery

sky explodes
as swallows return
to last year's nests

cat pauses
to watch the ants
move indoors

Sunday
in the city
a curlew calls

jacqui murray

after the exam
the moon stil
there

starfruit clatter
on my roof all night
& there is no moon

spring morning
coffees mobiles laptops
side by side

one reed gliding through the others heron

overalls
pegged to line with
budgies

this moment only :
3 crows &
the evening star

Ross Clark

the hum
of quiet emptiness
cicada

Cecily Stanton

evening swim:
the arc of her body
shatters the moon

in his absence
her ankles
grow hairy

only child
playing tag
with cloud shadows

Joanna Preston

first dragonfly
rapid wingbeats create
a heat shimmer

Cornelis Vleeskens

in deep shade
of growing house wall --
brickie's dog

landing pelican --
the bow wave starts
seagulls shrieking

John Bird

old photos
my mum's blond hair
i never knew

on the window pane
leaves tattoo
my face

in the sushi bar
a fish
watches me

diving
a swirl of water
spring moons multiply

night breezes cooling
his kisses
on my neck

katherine samuelowicz

from the same school
her voice and
my mother's voice

he watches himself
painting
the edge of the mirror

no secrets
but fixing the window blind
anyway

Tony Beyer

geckoes scurrying
under this year's fallen leaves
last year's fallen leaves

clutching rough tree bark
empty shells hold the shape
of summer song

Jean Rasey

conventional now
are the heavenly bamboo
and the Nile lily

C. Mulrooney

cold morning
rising mist fogs
the lake's mirror

still evening
duck paddles across the lake
reflections wrinkle

white egret
at lake's edge
standing on himself

Joy Hutton

Possum lies still
Eyes open
Ants the only sign

Jon Swabey

last night's conversation --
pink crescent
imprinted on teacup

sky funeral
in vultures' mouths
flesh

Rosanna L.

first glance attraction
long-hair athletic shape
shop dummy

Mark Power

a dead fly
resting
on its wings

John Ower

Brushing the dawn sky
a screech of galahs
paint their own sunrise

Estelle Randall


spring morning --
the old dog lifts his leg
a little higher

HF Noyes

the sharp shafts of morning
shatter the window
and cut the day open

Andrew Detheridge

time share kids

p _____ p
_ i ___ o
__ n _ n
___ g

between mum and dad

full of preservatives
and artificial colouring
wife number three

Old photo albums
strangers with my childrens' eyes
stare back at me

after the scan
the sun still shining
somewhere else

Sue Wilson

dawn
on the campus lawn
rabbits black on black

giant bamboo
children hidden
except for voices

gathering darkness
on the sandbar
gulls wait

Patricia Prime

along Landscape Lane
iron roofs in lieu of
hills

Bernard Gadd

ice cubes trapped
behind ivory teeth
melt into conversation

shimmer of blue
among the leaves
blue wren at the kitchen table

swirl of white breath
winter shapes
waiting for the train

Pym Schaare

puppy's first snow
both of us
go tumbling

autumn morning ...
a trump brushes leaves
off the park bench

John Barlow

in the space
between two heartbeats
her fleeting smile

piece by piece,
picking his phone number
out of wash

woodland pond --
linking the water lilies
strands of frogspawn

Sue Mill

mudd circle
measured in the snow
by a dog's chain

the curve of her neck
I forgot
what I was going to say

Lindsay Forbes

night ...
an open refrigerator
light burned out

M. Kettner

All day
wet between the thights
from the memory

Diana Levy

kneading dough
the lines of her palms
in and out of print

reading his last letter
the distant cry
of a mopoke

ninetieth birthday
choosing the colour
of her coffin

Carla Sari

after the rain
inside a palm leaf frond
red berries float

evening brings
a tsunami
of sleep

into my cup
one last drop
of spring rain

Gloria B Yates

view from the cafe
FRANKLINS No Frills
and a grey sky

a swirl
with lemon butterflies
the golden rain tree

Margaret Manson

his eyes on his feet
he begs for change
a novice still burdened with pride

beside a rain-drenched
ragged scarecrow
another bends to pick the rice

Leonardo Alishan


repeatedly
two crisp fan shapes
on the windshield

Susan Stanford

the half moon
on my nail grows
smaller and smaller

Angela Smith

into stillness a sparrow
between four walls

Dawn Bruce

after the day's heat
cooling house timbers
creak their discomfort

lemon blossom
accidentally picked
perfumes the whole room

Jeanette Stace