a retired pilot flies asleep
his pockets fill with mountains
and bad weather
everything’s falling
sons
daughters
landing gear
home he shouts to remember the word
his house is off site
off where?
he’ll never fit back on earth
St Kilda pray for him
St Clair pray for him
he ditches the plane
he blinks awake
there’s no one gluten free
there’s no one
where’s the sea?
Kerrin Sharpe has published four collections of poetry with Victoria University Press: three days in a wishing well (2012); there’s a medical name for this (2014); rabbit rabbit (2016); and Louder (August 2018). She has appeared in Best New Zealand Poems six times as well as Oxford Poets 13 (Carcanet Press UK) and Poetry (USA).
