Editor’s note: In October, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design (FAD) at the University of Canberra (the home of Axon: Creative Explorations), invited members of the faculty to respond, in 100 words, to the year that has been, and especially the COVID experience. This invitation was taken up by creative writing lecturer/poet Owen Bullock, and we are pleased to include his 100 words as a synecdoche for the FAD experience as a whole community.
the length
of two dog leads
walkers chat
COVID winter morn
clouds and sunlight
and plum blossom
lonely
on the trail
a red parrot chimes
ceramic studio
tap slap of wood paddle
on clay
our empty room just ask the sound
lockdown
a girl in a tutu
playing golf in the park
out walking
giving the magpie
1.5 metres
coronavirus
I can have the park bench
all to myself
what I’m not
the cocky keening
through the suburbs
that time of night
she waters the houseplants
with her hot water bottle
after spring rains
the hillside smudged with
Paterson’s curse