Jules has published four collections of poetry and one chapbook, most recently Stripping Wallpaper from the Sky (Interactive Press, 2015), and has received two SA Literature Grants (2008; 2011). He is one of the poets in the public art works Signs of Life (Bowen Street, Adelaide) and the Shop 6 Tram Art project (Glenelg tram line). He also has worked as a mentor with writers from the Richard Llewellyn Arts and Disability Trust.
Outpost
The mid-afternoon
is brighter
Than a child’s
sketchbook
The pores of sky
Have cracked open
with heat
Above cliffs
gulls circle
Weaving a net
around the sun
Surf slaps pylons
Waves punch
the beach
The jetty is a lone
outpost
Fishermen cast out
their silences
Brush strokes of light
Sift through the jetty’s
warped planks
A gull dives
Dissolves into
water
Yachts are crayon smudges
on the horizon
From Each Goldfish Is Hand Painted
The Man In the Bookshop
The man in the bookshop
can not be easily read
Behind his glasses
there is the littlest
of expressions
and his smile is a rare book
Daily he plays the same
string quartets
on an ancient tape recorder
His shop is always in
semi-darkness
and as orderly as a museum
He claims to know every book
on his shelves
and refers to each author
by their first name
At closing time
he tucks his thoughts away
like a bookmark
in an unfinished novel
Leaves his shop
and enters a world
that is fictional
From Each Goldfish Is Hand Painted
A Wet Night Along Punt Road
Stars eaten by clouds
On lit-streets
daggers of rain
fall
Passing trams
a truck drivers’ fist
is a hammer
changing gears
The moon is half
rusted out
At an intersection
two people are hinged
together
He wipes the rain
like a windscreen wiper
from her face
From Each Goldfish Is Hand Painted