tension


shimmering mirror-trees tinkle their needles

an upside-down forest, not
 the volume of water infusing each twig
your feet are on asphalt under water
set submerged leaves rocking


into the lake
the old road before the diversion 

disrupt trunks and shimmy the edges of each silhouette
the mirror-trees feel you coming

here, the lake is shallow
consumes you slowly, tastes your foreign flavour
licks the particulate that clings to your skin
closes over you with a gulp

air and water
fill the same space at the same time 
coexist in your mouth, gullet, lungs, stomach
in the sinus passages that curl through your skull 
like mines
open your eyes
the lake is a lens 
 
as you descend, the light dims, water firms its grip 
do you believe you can breathe under water? 
use your self-rescuer
hold the mouthpiece between your teeth

breathe

if you need light to see as you go deep
switch on your headlamp 
feel aggregate through soft sludge underfoot 
horizontal snags of dank dead wood 

to clear clumps of algae from your vision
or are they the floaters in your own eye? 





blink






and you are back in the dim aquasphere
the water clears to reveal



geometric shapes loom faintly
in shadowy murk
foundations, concrete pads, softened
by layers of muck
you have reached Princess River
not a ghost town so much as a muddy footprint
a lingering echo, an eddy








breathe out
bubbles stream from your nose




the highway rises and you




pass the sunken picnic grounds on the old bridge over
the old river




over you

inexorable water
forming the behemoth body of dam/lake
hybrid of king and princess, bull and bird
underneath the rivers still creep
deep and cryptic
like uncomfortable memories buried

surface



branchlets of huon, hooked claws of tea-tree 
fringed casuarina
a surface-image

that laps at your ankles

walk the main decline of the old Lyell Highway

the dams, the bridge
ripples spread ahead of you

the cool surface slides its horizon
up your shins and thighs
clasps your waist in its surface tension
tickles your nipples, puts cold hands to your throat
kisses your lips, pours its tongue into your mouth
shrinks a cold crown around your head
expanding rings mark your point of disappearance. 
are soon gone






it blurs and sharpens your vision 
changes your focal length in space and time 
are you comfortable? 
if your autonomic nervous system baulks 
pop the top and bottom off the durable case
pull the toggle so the bag inflates

breathe



move between trees
standing skeletons
blink

the scene flickers, shifts
shrubs and grasses move slightly 
in air, clear above a wisp 
of woodsmoke, a translucent cushion of low-lying mist 
the highway is just a track, people walking 
occasionally a horse

a path that could only be made by feet, bare 
or covered in soft hides 
fur-cloaked people walk
away from you

blink

teams of men and trucks carting rock 
to construct the road you walk on

walk on






energy 
everywhen
louder than the physical evidence of settlement
smoke rising from stove and fireplace chimneys
clouds rise from the smelter over the hill
from chimneys and sawmill to join them
above a dune of sawdust
children play in bitter winter, skating on the stilled river
log trucks rumble through your apparition
walk on towards the King
breathe in
look towards the river flats 
to buildings climbing the hill
to the railway lines, naked rock
bodies of overburden
ascend into only air
you have absorbed the qualities of water
can flow through the dense acacia and radiata pine 
that punch through the sodden pavement 
crowd to reach the sunlight

turn to look south
the rivers meander and merge
chuckle and rush towards the descent
valley and dam wall shimmer in your myriad vision
water is below you
and rising slowly towards you
animals flee past you, from hunt or fire
rising 
serene of surface
fattened into languor


dead trees stretch bony claws
pierce the water’s still skin