jackson mccarthy
questions about the midnight river
I am the dog chasing your scent, me in my beat-up Converse
There in the little house in the campsite
The place where they leave the doors unlocked
What about the boys, two of them, who went down to the
Midnight River a few years ago and got busted
Did no one else have to know about it
No eyes, just hands and feet—
Did they not see it
The branch, the white pastel underside,
the silver fern-flicker—
Did it snap and crackle their laughter into the night
Did they feel the winter water turn electric
and fast
Were they naked
in that water
and kissing and what else?
…
You find excuses to hug me and thank me for things and
say I need to talk to you later
And I to stand in front of the mirror
after the shower
I told you I had a dream, so real,
that we were touching very close—
Showed up at your house
saying, This is just to say:
Would you have me, as I would have you any other day?
Touch the crown of your head but none of the other parts
that go from tender to hard—
In the Midnight River, nothing is too far in the dark.
Jackson McCarthy is a poet and student from Tāmaki Makaurau. He was a finalist for the Schools Poetry Award 2021.