Poems
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Buoyancy
By Zainab SyedI.
When we consider the buoyancy of a city’s heart
There is not much that will keep it afloat -
What has been said by many and has often been said
By Pascalle Burton, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lipsafter Cicero’s first and second speeches on the Agrarian Law
I
stirring up trouble -
sometimes feels day and sometimes feels night
By Andrew Galan, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsTrapped in this cement and brick and gypsum and nylon work
not compressed unmoving but walking and walking and walking
finding repetition or transient newness at corners but no exit
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Red Face Man
By Dylan Van Den BergRed face man don’t smile with his teeth but he clench my hand
like a purinina grips a bird by the neck.
Me and the bird the same –
Made the same promise whether we holler or hold our breath. -
I Fell
By Heather MitchellI cannot say I knew him
nor did he know me
yet somehow in the silence
between the siren and the stillness -
Gowk
By Simon ArmitageOne day I had no soul and the next
I did, like a cuckoo’s egg, so
then I was lumped with this baby ego
hatching out of the heart’s nest, -
Murmuration
By Luke Patterson'Murmuration' is a musical poem inspired by and written for Baraya Barray - Whale Song by Luke Patterson. Reflecting on this piece, Luke says:
Poetry and music are like perceptual magic tricks. They’re very good at readjusting the way we perceive space, time, memory, even ourselves. For the most part, I’m only a respectful observer of Whale… -
Monopoly
By Ella Jeffery1. Kent Road, Wooloowin
the landlord sold in under a fortnight.
took us by surprise. we packed up -
Side Dish
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Eloise GrillsI’ve opened the no-name Australian Grated Cheese (made from Australian Milk) too early, like a cheesy patriot who sets up camp in the dark for another dawn service. Snacking is hard to avoid once a plastic seal is broken. Now I have to open the weekend wine on a Tuesday night, then I’ll preheat the oven. I’m making my mother’s special dish—a four… -
Inverted Weather
By Toby Fitch, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsA car in front of you jumps out of the road like an orca and lands on its back
Kisses a spider’s web in the dried-out garden bed beside the train track
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never ask me to perform that part of the ceremony again
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Kate Lilleysleep by pressing a tiny button
to take away the pricking pains of the side
the green toothache
all blue spots or marks that happen therein -
Throes
By Kate Lilley, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsThis world is a ball – give it to me
or take it from me (if you can).
Quick, quicker, quickest,
all the parts of speech apply. -
clowder loop
By Raelee Lancaster, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsIn Japan, the Community cat – or Chiiki-neko – has no owner
but is collectively beloved.
Beloved sees you open heart / hearth / hand: Bastet’s stalwart -
high want stay cool / cold to the touch til you've touched it
By Chloe Alison Escottall circuitry
which is to say:
artificial
cold, false -
some mountains and a load of kif and the blind weight of the colonial drift
By Dave GraneyMar 16, 2024, 10:12 PM
You sent
If I fire away, you’re one tough cookie with a long history
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RISE — inaudibly, repeatedly
By Ian Gibbins, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsOn Monday, they largely, chaotically
ANNOUNCE
ARREST
BEGIN -
for Hansie
By Helen Franzmann, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsI’ve often wondered about the
soft rumble that occurs when you laugh
washing you now I understand -
all the while, trying to start the engine
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Helen Franzmann(for Jupiter)
between waking and sleep, two switches flicker
connecting stop-starts from Life and Now -
I’m bored… but you like it, don’t you?
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Sawako NakayasuWhat if a film never reaches the screen because viewers walk away?
– Susan Howe
I don’t want to feel like a tourist. -
She had a ‘Zest for Life’
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Maddie NixonThe secret of longevity is to eat
an incredible amount of meat
and surround yourself with colourful
characters in defiance of the fates.