Paradise III by Rebecca Jessen
after Motorcycle emptiness I, II, III by Scott Redford
I
this realist façade
was my nineties paradise
the velcro snatch
of my incandescent pink-purple
quick-dry Seaworld wallet
beating my brother
to ten bucks on the beach
finding out what happens
when you grab a skink
by the tail
nightfall bursts
in the sky no neon
loneliness on summer holiday
II
peel back the scaffolding
raze the trees
no more city lights
strawberry starburst promenade
queer resistance pink
what else can I erase to prove
III
something that was once there an abstraction a scratch resurfacing a magenta drift a glitch a test pattern me becoming me becoming not me time distorting time moving immovable time leaves an imprint you were once a building with windows a mistake a blowout a rewriting if you keep going you can never go back
Image: Scott REDFORD Motorcycle emptiness I 2002, colour screenprint. QUT Art Collection. Purchased 2008.