Rodent Brain Slices
(First published in Meanjin, Autumn 2020)
One
must be dead drunk to consult
a
doctor who can read transparent
brain
slices of alcohol-induced mice
but
heavily his footfall falls toward
rows
of black-brick worker-cottages
retrofit
to cure cirrhosis of the liver
later
at the stone pub he might sip
tonic
with lemon by winter’s last fire
a
waitress will set tea lights in tumblers
flames
will dance in fluted glass at dusk
the
August air is fragrant with jasmine
will
first spring rain be nectar sweet?
it
takes thirty hard years of drink to be
a
mouse outside a clinic cottage door.
- Gershon Maller
Gershon
Maller is author of Nights in the Gardens of Spain. He
chalked his first poems on La Trobe University walls. A good idea until it
rained.
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