Poems
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Ceiba insignis (White Silk Floss Tree)
By Maria TakolanderAncient sun of gold—
smuggled down this studded trunk
to the underworld
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Crushed Stone for Silver Waves
By Elena GomezI’m all chapped what are your lips doing at that entrance here is the softest flesh to test
against me my monsters are tougher they could have survived
real ancient purges don’t you know my species is no longer legitimate are you
my…are you floppy enough to last are your tendrils going the way for a new te… -
Echinopsis spachiana (Torch Cactus)
By Maria TakolanderA forest, they rise
to the god of night and, awed,
ignite in blossom.
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Arms of a friend
By Carissa Lee GodwinFor Monterey Cypress
Origin: Mexico, South America
How many hearts have broken beneath your arms -
Cereus peruvianus (Peruvian Apple or Apple Cactus)
By Maria TakolanderIn the deep of night:
a rush of moons flowering,
soon rustling with moths.
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The bean seller's tale
By Maria TakolanderOnce upon a time,
we were cast as
hoodwinkers, thaieves,
old-timers of the deranged forests -
Botanic / “One-way conversation with Agapanthus”
By Cameron LoweTrouble is
the reflective lyric pose
won’t hold, when every time I greet you
vision splits (courtesy -
Euphorbia caput-medusae (Medusa’s Head)
By Maria TakolanderIts skyward forays
thwarted, it lays low, seething—
fires with its own stars
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Botanic / "Hermeneutics"
By Cameron Lowe“The land escapes because it refuses”
—Tony Baker
Turned the sun over -
Botanic / “Commission”
By Cameron Lowe—for Tamryn Bennett
Tired my eyes
having done nothing but speak
turtle talk to tortoise -
Speaking Camellia
By Autumn RoyalI recognise her floating face-up with irregular
streaks of shell pink. Wavy petals—
Inside the throngs of knowing I took
her semi-formal blush for granted. She spoke -
Botanic / "Beginning with four words from a poem by Joseph Massey"
By Cameron LoweThere’s little
to say. The fig—
giant—leans
across the -
CBD Flower-Seller / Self-portrait
By Autumn RoyalThe flower-seller pulls a wagon into her failed
self-possession, a timeless testimony
for the story-teller. She will not sit restfully
with her hands in her lap, they are tied -
Remnant
By Ryan Prehnremnant /ˈrɛmnənt/ noun
1. a part or quantity that is left after the greater part has been used, removed, or destroyed.
i. a piece of cloth left when the greater part has been used or sold.
ii. a surviving trace. -
Agave victoriae (Royal Agave)
By Maria TakolanderPorcelain perfect:
such composure beneath the
wheeling, star-streaked sky.
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Golden Bogey
By Duncan HoseI am insuperably lazy and this makes me proud.
Midnight in Derby
a new suburb of Melbourne
Where Fitzleroy used to be -
Kuller Kullup
By Bruce PascoeKuller Kullup walked
from the stoney shoulder of Targangil
to this bend of Birrarung
spoke to all the people gathered there, -
Floral Axis
By Autumn RoyalThis is not a concentration of dramatic method.
There appears to be a growing expectation
language can be trusted for clarity, a petal,
yet these segments are modified & leave a waxy -
Enter the Yellow Tower
By Elena Gomezwe grew a little slower sometimes
we needed to protect ourselves
we self-seeded on the cliff face
we splashed out real nice -
Agave franzosini (Grey Ghost)
By Maria TakolanderWhat a soul baring:
all this barbed glory laid out
for the noonday sun.
