Poems
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II. An old convict recalls
By Andrew SneddonLevelling the ground
Where you now see George Street
We turned up dry old bones –
Blackfellas. -
The Arch
By Danny GentileIn the beginning my words will arch
like an eyebrow or a wing. Then they
will offer a fevered commotion of atoms
to resolve back into harmony as I resist. -
Mother's Lost Song
By Maureen O'KeefeMothers has disappeared never to be sung again. So who will sing mothers song this song
is ancient as the land itself. Mothers song has disappeared like a whisper in the wind.
Through sands of time this song echoed through a thousand years. It’s to me but a fading
memory but I still hear her singing in the wind. Her singing echoing through the des… -
July 13th/14th Sydney for Ken
By Pete Spence1)
Sydney saw Perren entrain to Taree
& adventure Terry doing 1000 lashes so
i'm staying at the Great Southern Hotel & not -
(En)Joy rides in police cars
By Andrew GalanDad was certified dead Christmas day
septicaemia mixed by schizophrenia, alcohol, and restraint
in Long Bay maximum security psychiatric hospital
mum didn’t tell -
Magpie Song
By R.A. BriggsNo carpet snake ruffles
our sofa-soft wattles;
no eagle, no dingo. We’re mostly
snug, smug, and suburban. -
An Accurate Martyr
By Lindsay TuggleThe extraordinary baggage
a collection of ordinary possessions
accumulated since
childhood with -
Lucky Charm
By Virginia JealousThere's water in Lake George.
Been ten years, the locals say.
You're lucky, they say.
That wide, still lake -
Paterson's Curse
By Fiona HileSweet Gradiva purple in the marbled light
could not have unearthed the wiley passion
of your sub-coastal spray. Tramping towards
the gully, I wear long pants and take a spade. -
Gladys's Party
By Michael FarrellGladys thought party short for apartment and she took
one with a ferny balcony and a good view of
the parade. The usual misfits were there. Her best
friend, Gary Two-Thumbs the ape dentist; Lana Fundingbody and her gothic squeeze Mona Persona; Henry Withchickens of course; and Dork her dog, a mind like -
Temple relics
By Jena WoodhouseThe banners of red-painted wood
are worm-eaten. Some of the characters
have been effaced:
'The God's might is clear and grand, -
Along Terrigal Beach
By Brian PurcellNeeding more cash to get the fish
I walk via the beach
dark cloud, fat drops of rain
seagulls and some hooded terns -
The Wolves
By Bert SpinksFive wolves went hiding in the corners of the island,
each with stripes across their spines just like the newly-
arrived men’s, who also wore faces darkened with the
desire to kill and devour whatever might present itself -
My own Lucy
By Eileen Chong‘It shone, just so, upon the edge
Away, away, we're sad, they say’
‘The Carny’, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
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Acknowledgements
By Lesley WalterMuch has been said about the invisibility of women
past a certain stage in life. And it’s not only men
who look through them. It’s obvious how children, too,
favour the pretty young teacher. But occasionally, -
Go to be lost to others, overwhelmed/ By bones and light and themselves…*
By Juan Garrido-SalgadoThere are lights that will never burn out
Until they make bodies and dust
In our hearts and hands.
Hay luces que no se apagaran jamás -
Multicultural Uncultured
By Josephine ParsonsWe are the multicultural uncultured
Blind folds blind unacceptance
Tensions dissolved resolved
Stalls malls charcoaled souls -
Slow Falling
By Genevieve OsborneThe house slow falling makes no sound
Cows amble by without regard
Inch by year closer to the ground
You look away, pull out your working card -
Kimberley Quartet
By Glen PhillipsFor Perdita
I
Crossing to the Fitzroy
Beautiful the light here at sunset, soft pink flame; -
Who Was The Halloween Woman?
By Joel EphraimsThe woman who gave us the most lollies with the most enthusiasm every year. A stretched white summer dress over her rolls like an enlarged pastry wrapper greasy with afternoon shadow, swaths of lollies and chip packets glinting in there too with their inside silver skins, once a five dollar note and two dollar and one dollar coins. The smell of c…