Nathanael O’Reilly

Crossings

I.
dart like a javelina
between mesquite and boulders
run beside the Rio Grande
through Big Bend National Park

II.
spend hours absorbed in the woods
near Bath hiking the skyline
trail, see nobody awake
on frosty autumn mornings

III.
run southeast beside the blue
waters of Port Phillip Bay
from the modest Port Melbourne
War Memorial to St.
Kilda Pier thawing in bright
winter morning sunshine, look
south-southwest towards Rosebud
remember journeys taken
in long-forgotten lifetimes


Twitter: @nathanael_o

BIO: Nathanael O’Reilly is an Irish-Australian poet residing in Texas. His books include (Un)belonging (Recent Work Press, 2020); BLUE (above/ground press, 2020); Preparations for Departure (UWAP, 2017); Cult (Ginninderra Press, 2016); Distance (Ginninderra Press, 2015); Suburban Exile (Picaro Press, 2011); and Symptoms of Homesickness (Picaro Press, 2010). More than 230 of his poems have appeared in journals & anthologies published in fourteen countries, including Antipodes, Anthropocene, Apricity, Cordite Poetry Review, The Elevation Review, Headstuff, Marathon Literary Review, Mascara Literary Review, Rochford Street Review, Skylight 47, Strukturriss, Transnational Literature, Westerly and The Newcastle Poetry Prize Anthology 2017.