Geoffrey Aitken writes in Adelaide, on unceded Kaurna land as an awarded poet whose industrial minimalism communicates his ‘lived experience’, for publishers both locally (AUS) and internationally (UK, US, CAN, Fr & CN). Recently, ‘Impspired’, ‘Sparks of Calliope’ (UK), ‘Our Days Encounter’, ‘Maya’s Micros’, (US), ‘Oxygen’, and ‘unusual work’ (AUS). He was nominated for the annual Best of the Net anthology in 2022.

perspective 

how many times
did i hear

don’t think about it
it’s easy
trust yourself

my arms would freeze
my legs jellify
my brain contort

my eyes would watch the horizon rise 

then fall

standing up wasn’t easy.

creature comfort

a driver
under instruction

must be accompanied
by a fully licensed

front seat passenger

unknown by me
when i jumped in

alongside the learner

a lesson  
that immediately exposed 

my lack of peripheral vision.

at the reading   

i quickly 
became uncomfortable
 
realizing
i did not fit in
 
Jack said my notebook
looked like a bible
 
i sooked off
overcome with memories
that still creep me out
 
with behaviour modification
working insincerity
 
his wife asked
why i was in the corner
and i joked about being a dunce
 
you know like school days
 
it fell to the floor lame as a byline
 
and i wondered if a linguist
could improve my diction
 
someone who knew better
to help me converse
so that when i opened my mouth
it did not simply sound ‘he brew’
 
finally i slipped away
caught Jack’s eye
 
nodded my farewell
 
i shan’t do that again
too many old men in the world
 
the drive home was a bastard.