Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Two Nov-Dec 2026.
August Walks, poems by Michael J Leach.
August Walks
i.
winter holiday
we step out
into spring air
ii.
bush reserve
the smell of smoke
from a neighbour’s bonfire
iii.
we talk
on the bush trail
parrot’s beak orchids
iv.
water tank
the bushland mural stands out
from graffiti
v.
halfway
up the green hill
two crimson rosellas
vi.
we swig from canteens
cockatoos lap up puddles
vii.
a jogger
the wallaby
hops into the bush
viii.
we picnic
an echidna
shovels out insects
ix.
bare branches
the purple of the last
princess flower
x.
the trail darkens
she still stops
to smell the wattle
Aftermaths
i.
both sides
of the freeway—
burnt gums sprout shoots
ii.
my sedan
sprays floodwaters
rosellas rise through mist
© Michael J Leach
Michael J. Leach resides on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Australia. Michael’s poems are in journals such as Cordite, anthologies such as The Best Australian Science Writing (NewSouth Publishing), and his four books: Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union), Natural Philosophies (Recent Work Press), Rural Ecologies (ICOE Press), and Chords in the Soundscapes (Ginninderra Press). Chords in the Soundscapes has been recognised as a Distinguished Favorite in the NYC Big Book Awards. Michael’s individual poems have been recognised in competitions such as the UC Health Poetry Prize, Woollahra Digital Literary Award, Liquid Amber Poetry Prize, and Philippa Holland Award for Poetry.