States of Poetry Poems
'Empirical VI' by Lisa Gorton
A single cloud now climbing the hill towards me
and the blue-grey shadows in it are in the shape of a fire
and all about it brightness where the light pours through –
Uninterrupted its shadow moves over the craving grasses –
pale seedheads now shaking out light – as with a sound of wings
the scrubwrens scatter out of head-high rubble
overrun with weeds ... More
'Empirical V' by Lisa Gorton
Now on its stone heaps the tussock is dry
stalks the colour of a scratch in glass and rattling fennel
tendrils from the root – Along the cutting’s side
speargrass with a rain wind in it moves through the shape
of a catching fire – At the level of my eye, its
close horizon, grasses moving many ways
like shivers, incandescent, each force forwards
thr ... More
'Mr. Darwin's Room (National Museum of Australia)' by Anita Patel
'A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.'
Charles Darwin
Inside a structure
of rainbow loops and angles
spangle whirling
over a cellophane lake
is Mr. Darwin’s room,
exactly as he left it:
cards tucked in the mirror,
pictures on the wall,
a basket by the fire,
unassu ... More
'Winter Pageant' by Anita Patel
Through damp drifts of umber
ducks parade past the National Museum.
A feathered armada,
flashing iridescent epaulettes,
they salute themselves
in plate glass windows.
And a flutter of parrots –
emerald and rose
hails their arrival ...
a flurry of silken scarves
flung in admiration
landing gently on the
ice pale grass.
'Wajah/Muka' by Anita Patel
Two words for face in my language:
Wajah from the Arabic wajh
rolls off the tongue sweetly
and melts like honey
in our mouths …
Wajah – a fitting sound for
the cherished tenderness of
a human face …
And yet …
I prefer the honest drum beat
of muka. An island word
harvested from salty seas and
More
About Anita Patel
'Balloons over our city' by Mark O'Connor
Those big laundry baskets heaving at anchor,
a soft lift and fall
like a cat landing on feathers
Nervous passengers toeing the frost,
invited at last, to stand packed
in a cut-down phone booth of wicker.
Each shot of flame brings a slow delaying lift
then the light up-gathering pull of nylon
as tugged seams unite to draw on hawsers, cats-cradl ... More
'John at 70 years, the Marriage 40 years old' by Mark O'Connor
For John and Bini Malcolm
Just when you think it’s all coming together
And you could take a bit more of this partnership,
Time coughs and observes, it’s been forty years now, more than average,
And maybe it’s time to sum up.
In the road to the planets and stars
The step from the croft to the town was the harshest
Then – for a Scot ... More