 Robert James Berry lives and writes in Dunedin, New Zealand. His work has been widely published. His 2016 collection Gorgeous was published by Sylph Editions, London”. ScarecrowThe farmer, of whom I was terrified, had a peculiarly creepy scarecrow. I marvelled how the rooks dared roost on its arms, I could never go there. I was aware its nose was an old potato and its battered straw hat never spooked another soul. But I remained chilled throughout my childhood. I still see it leering, it froze my marrow, it freaked me. CastawayI should like to founder on a coral atoll bathe my big toe in glistening turquoise sea paddle with dugongs maybe dolphins eat salty anemones admire the rush of tropical sunsets never get rescued. DragonfliesDragonflies inhabit swamps monsters from the cretaceous period grown thumb-sized. How they hover baffles physics. I have seen them gather speed, halt. I wear a jewelled dragonfly on my lapel. It is like fellowship. TreesWe planted a memorial tree when you were born. The council gifted a seedling and all the fathers dug. I remember it rained, I remember the mayor spoke, he presented certificates and you dreamed through everything. WhalesI should like to sing
with humpbacks in the abysmal trenches of this world, paddle with the calves and barnacled cows and siphon krill and take the long migration to the north and follow bird-stained archipelagoes and rise from the sea and make a splash like I created great whales.
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