Tag Archives: Australia

Before we save the daylight

Settle. The city is quietly occupied, the day protected – as though something must be done. Watch a screen by all means, but first gather friends, and walk to the shops to lubricate the day. Or hit the streets, if you choose – to enjoy unexpected sunshine, and the hum, like a ball hissing throughContinue reading “Before we save the daylight”

Ritual

Why do I walk on tiptoes when I first step into icy blue?                                  As if my waist must stay above the lapping line,                                                   as though caution will keep me safe in this task which infants undertake with glee? The slow preparation, the gasps as underneath we plunge: all this is ritual, and weContinue reading “Ritual”

Boab

Upside-down-like, you bulb from earth – your beauty breaks in root-like branches. Spindly fingers reach to sky, gaunt and stretching, delicate, your certain trunk a monument, a stout and stolid testament to passing years, millennia. Shedding pods to paint; a home, yet prison; sacred; den for slaves – drawing, standing, reaching out – a signContinue reading “Boab”

An Absolutely Ordinary Poet

February now over, it is time to offer one final celebration of Les Murray’s poetry, before moving onto our next – and final – poet in the 12 Poets Project. Here is a short reflection on some of the qualities I value most in Murray’s work. I hope it is a fitting conclusion to ourContinue reading “An Absolutely Ordinary Poet”

First Things Last (After “Incorrigible Grace”)

For my next response to Les Murray’s poetry, I’ve chosen a deceptively simple four-line poem as my starting point. I suspect Murray’s poem speaks for itself. I hope that mine does too. First Things Last (After “Incorrigible Grace”) Saint Vincent de Paul, old friend, my sometime tailor, I daresay by now you are feeding theContinue reading “First Things Last (After “Incorrigible Grace”)”

Passacaglia in G Minor (After Les Murray’s “An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow”)

For those who have not encountered Les Murray’s poetry before, his work always strikes me with the way in which it blends profundity with earthiness. One of his most beautiful poems for me is his “An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow”, a description of a man crying in the middle of Sydney’s city centre, his tears somehowContinue reading “Passacaglia in G Minor (After Les Murray’s “An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow”)”