In a poppy field of fire,
Bogged in mud in Flanders mire,
Poppies dancing; dry cut leaf,
Pressed and rolled up in a sheaf,
Mainlined in a bulging vein.

Messages flick through a brain,
Shot through with doubt and nagging pain.
Through a wall of stop-and-go
Positives click on a screen;
Crackling shortwave, fading scene.
Pictures roll in melange:
Distorted voices, twisted rack*
Windlass spokes wind each word back.
Jumbled sound in sludge-drunk mind;
Pounded leaf and bulging vein.

Tied off thumping; each heartbeat
Tingling fingers; hand numb; asleep.
Released a rush spread through the veins.
Narcotic rush fizzes the brain:
Pictures roll, clearing, blurring fading scenes
Memories etched in stark relief
Rotating on an axle frame:
Blurred spokes speed, turn down the feed,
Grinding inexorably.
In a poppy field of fire,
Bogged in mud in Flanders mire.

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John's novel "The Ute" is now physical

◎ Available from Lulu.com in Paperback (pictured) for AU$24.99
◎ Now available at Lulu.com (Digital ePUB version) for AU$3.50
◎ Also available on iTunes and Barnes & Noble book stores.
◎ 1st edition of "The Ute" (34pp shorter) still available on Kindle (Kindle)
◎ For our US friends, A "ute" is a utility vehicle; a pickup truck.

Paperback	Electronic
Weight	0.41kg	0kg
Pages	238pp	big writing 2000pp
Dimensions (cm)	14.81 x 20.98	4 dimensional

John Taylor