Three to Four

a red whistle
is fingered
twice a day
once, just after she pulls on
a heavy winter jacket
in January
and once,
to anchor her frame
to the car
so she won't drift away
on the tarmac
back to Avondale

he puffs his cheeks and blows
soars with the squeal of it
red plastic birdsong leaving him
chanting for breath

as she did
heaving him into the light

that shrill
like the cry of a broken tui
the skidding of a tyre
corner of a day-care
fender of a Ford
tuffs of hair in the grill

that shrill
a feral cat in her throat
as Ford is sentenced six for his four
and out in three