– Metal sculpture lost during renovations, Teachers’ College, Dunedin
A night cleaner walks past the figure, a shackled arm raised,
head thrown back, wrist hobbled to ankle. Metal plates patch
his chest. Behind, a garden light shines through wire, cable
rod – vein, artery, bone. She twists the key in the lock, steps
quickly into the tower block. The phantom follows her cage up
three floors and down. Sometimes she runs to finish carpets,
bins, toilet, staircases by midnight, to close the Cleaner’s room,
its smell of polish, veneer oil, mops, brooms, soap, solutions.
Outside, she kneels to place a hand on her own ankle chain.