In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Fiona Wright reads her poem 'Crisis Poem' which features in the 2016 New South Wales anthology.
Crisis Poem
for Ian
And suddenly:the menare holding beersand standing roundthe trampoline,and not the barbecue;turning over toddlers,instead of steaks.The womenmake the salads.
Fiona Wright
'Crisis Poem' appears ... (read more)
Hidden Author
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Fiona Wright reads her poem 'After Mutability' which features in the 2016 New South Wales anthology.
After Mutability
Perhaps the best cells are the ones we can't kill off,a persistence of the fittest, although mutation'salways painful. It's two thousand and fourteen,and I know no-one who has beenuninjured. It thinks ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Amy Brown reads her poem 'Snake' which features in the 2016 Victorian anthology.
Snake
We are following a track that loopsaround a lake impaled with trees,a pinned-down habitat for platypuses
I would like to see, so try to walksilently until a shadow across the sun-dried turf in front of me blushes
curls and slides ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Ellen van Neerven reads her poem 'Buffalo Milk' which features in the 2016 Queensland anthology.
Buffalo Milk
Suck until you burn the roomand the heat numbsreduced to a soundwetlike the come and goof the oceanwater entersmy hand in your hairmy handif you leave me childlessthis will be yours alonethese marks you makeo ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Ellen van Neerven reads her poem 'Bricks and Lightning' which features in the 2016 Queensland anthology.
Bricks and Lightning
It seems I'm always walkinginto the scene of a crimemoustached copperand fuck-off tapedon't look too closelyyou won't be able to sleepI'm new to this buildingI live now by the river wherethe d ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Ellen van Neerven reads her poem 'Chips' which features in the 2016 Queensland anthology.
Chips
Can I saywhite people really bore me sometimesto be exactI grow tired with what's unmentionedidling in surf club bathroomsnothing wrong with the chipsbut they're talking about Tasmaniamy thoughts haunted by islandsmaybe I' ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Ellen van Neerven reads her poem 'Roo tails' which features in the 2016 Queensland anthology.
Roo tails
The ground felt like it did when it's about to storm. My feet were brown and my big toe blistered. My grandmother was talking to my grandfather. A wet patch on my grandmother's back. Her hands roping those tails al ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Ellen van Neerven reads her poem 'Love and Tradition' which features in the 2016 Queensland anthology.
Love and Tradition
for Aunty Nancy Bamaga
rising seatakes andbreaks into backyardsto trouble families
we cannot livewith the seas in our bellieswe cannot restwith the sea at our legs
the tideis comingto strokeour ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Barbara Temperton reads her poem 'My Mother's Ravens' which features in the 2016 Western Australian anthology.
My Mother's Ravens
They toll hours. I trace the peak and trough of raven-callthrough brick veneer walls to the hospital – an hour away –with every throaty rattle, to my Aunt, morphinepump filtering sleep ... (read more)
In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Barbara Temperton reads her poem 'West Coast' which features in the Western Australian anthology.
West Coast
I drive in on Daylight Saving Timewith a pale, fat moon risingover the Moresby Ranges.New subdivision: Ocean Heights Estate?It looks like Sandcastle Land.
Foreshore duneslimestone-terraced into sharp ledges:h ... (read more)