In this episode of Australian Book Review's States of Poetry podcast, Susie Anderson reads her poem 'egress' which features in the 2016 NSW anthology.

egress

someone is leaving a plane and feeling the city wrap around them again. the atmosphere, it is always heavy around here. what that means is that it's humid. within the person there is an internal battle, then there is a decision, then there is action. while the consequences of the action play out, crickets play and not even in the background. the sound rises and all of a sudden it feels like they are all around. but they are nowhere to be seen, so it is terrifying as well. something invisible can be so consuming. yes, the atmosphere is still heavy here. the person who leaves the airport had no one to meet them and was going to get the airport train but figured a taxi wouldn't be so much more expensive than the train fare. it was probably about two dollars more. this is the kind of person who has to wait to run errands that would be easier with a car because she doesn't have one herself. they wait until a friend with a car has a weekend free. this is the kind of person who leaves their phone at home and goes to dinner with only a book. they like to walk home through back streets to explore the city, stop to pat friendly cats for a little while and dawdle all the way back because it is always good to go a bit slower. the noise of the crickets, the absence of a breeze wrapping around all the time make this giant place seem smaller.

Susie Anderson

'egress' appears in States of Poetry - NSW. You can learn more about States of Poetry and read the full anthologies here.

Read Susie Anderson's biography in 'States of Poetry - NSW'