House Hunters

by Rae White
​
the land next door 
is up for sale.
masked lapwings 
on high rise limbs
prowl construction site 
ground: ‘if it flat, we nest’.
bright white queenslander
sits propped high
on jenga blocks 
awaiting next month’s 
big move: five inches 
forward, one inch right.
men till the ground
mow
clip
cut
fell. 
it all grows back 
within a week 
and is left to the house 
hunting lapwings 
and their pink galah 
kin: squawking 
and rummaging
the overgrown earth,
always after 
the latest seeds,
always after 
what’s 
next.

Rae White is a non-binary transgender poet, writer and zinester. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth (UQP) won 2017 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Rae is the founding editor of #EnbyLife, a journal for non-binary and gender diverse creatives.