Photo opportunity
- Fiona Farrell
As we approach the river of
forgetfulness, you will notice a
slight acceleration. On your left,
the garage and the motorcamp.
On your right, a thicket of
blackberry. (The berry's blood,
thorn under the skin.)
Do not adjust your headset.
Do not open the windows.
(Grey braid of river silt, the
lupin's yellow throat.)
Take out your cameras now.
There will be an opportunity
as we cross the river of
forgetfulness. We will pull
over. On the south bank,
shadows cluster. On the
north bank, bone and
rubble. Upriver, the lips
of the gorge, the narrow
source. Downriver is
dispersal and the dump
and seabirds weeping.
There are exits here.
And here. They have been
sealed for your security.
Do not adjust your aperture.
And now we are on our way.
We have crossed
the whatchamacallit
and we are heading
fast toward
thingummiebob.
• Fiona Farrell is the current Burns Fellow at the University of Otago. Her most recent work, The Broken Book (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2011), is released this week.
