R.A. Simpson
Ronald Albert Simpson (1929 - 2002) was an Australian poet and artist. He edited the anthology Poetry from The Age, and his collections include Walk on the Beach (1960) and Sky’s Beach (2003).
The poet John Ashbery, now a considerable force in American poetry, has said: ‘I think that any one of my poems might be considered to be a snapshot of whatever is going on in my mind at the time…’ Like John Ashbery – and Frank O’Hara (who was involved with the Abstract Expressionism scene in New York before being killed by a dune buggy in 1966) – John Forbes and Gig Ryan are, in Austr ... (read more)
‘The low clouds coming quickly
will break those trees
The sheep on that steep slope
will tumble into the gully’
I was twelve and troubled
when he also said
‘this storm will be the end of everything
I’m only joking so
don’t worry
let’s go home and hear
our wireless saying
how bad the war is now’
My father died that year
Last night I saw when sound asleep
my father’s gh ... (read more)
You turn on lights inside your head
and after drawing in that mist
soon decide how you must paint
Taking some brushes and primary colours
you make a long and massive wash
a spectrum fading into nowhere
This painting which you hope will last
is now complete on silky nothing
almost paper or is it air?
You watch it rolled and stored away
somewhere beyond returning ... (read more)