Michael Farrell

'Advantages of Stopovers', a new poem by Michael Farrell

September 2019, no. 414 • 27 August 2019

Writing a line, as if from bed, on a lovely, handmadeorgan based on Gerald Murnane, the Goroke novelistlast seen pouring a glass of amber silk and swayingimperceptibly enough to be called coincidental to HotChocolate. I would not be the writer I am if I forebore tomention the snowy peaks outside, being an analogy ofactual peaks. You see me out there gesturing at theiranti-poetic line, my hand perh ... (read more)

'Syllabic Patterning' by Michael Farrell

August 2018, no. 403 • 26 July 2018

He went down to the shed to look for a chooka particular one he’d seen earlier that morningone he realised he’d never seen before, andthat seemed to have disappeared. It was brownwith white markings, distinctive, like wallpaper ... (read more)

'Liked In Prison' by Michael Farrell

June-July 2017, no. 392 • 29 May 2017

Walking the streets, reading his booksin the cafés and bars, this was his over-riding question: would he be liked inprison? He was not particularly bad, or good, orgraceful, or skeptical. He reckoned hebelonged to the median when it came tothe smokers of Lwów: but would he beliked in prison? ... (read more)

States of Poetry 2016 - Victoria | 'The Distances' by Michael Farrell

States of Poetry Victoria - Series One • 22 February 2016

Like a teacup in a snowstorm IFind you and break you. A sentry reptile, I advise youTo return quietly to the campfire. You mistakenly tookMy interest in theology for a strategy ________________________________   Flip to a towel, flip toSheets of pasta in an emu's stomach. Sheep merely fluffing the  Horizon   _______   Technology is increasingly feminine. The diction ofSayin ... (read more)

States of Poetry 2016 - Victoria | 'Rich Tune' by Michael Farrell

States of Poetry Victoria - Series One • 22 February 2016

 Strawberries: a mania of strawberries on a   Turntable    ________    Drifting off in pineconesOf thought, feeling the wind refractYour backside. Eggs down a rabbit hole _________________________________ Voices like coconut milk in a car ___________________________ Writing the ball past the line. CloudsDrop on your face: noIt’s snow. The crane stopsAt ... (read more)

States of Poetry 2016 - Victoria | 'New Dr Williams' by Michael Farrell

States of Poetry Victoria - Series One • 22 February 2016

Who are you? You hear the song, theGood line along with the others in theHair salon. That place for standing in; for   Politics    _______    The New Dr Williams with his tricks of   Sadness    _______     Here is my bag: be sad. Here isMy bag left on the bannister. Yet letMe tell you that elevation’s just a sound __________ ... (read more)

States of Poetry 2016 - Victoria | 'Fancy' by Michael Farrell

States of Poetry Victoria - Series One • 22 February 2016

I was riding a shark through Cork, just for the exercise of courseIt might seem quaint but rather it wasGorgeous, like an early morning courtyardImagine the dialogue. AC/DC confronts shark       shark repeats       shadow prime minister'sGaffeYou guys are the white Australian Uluru. Fancy, say theyIt became noon. An emuIn police uniform j ... (read more)

States of Poetry 2016 - Victoria | 'C.O.U.N.T.R.Y' by Michael Farrell

States of Poetry Victoria - Series One • 22 February 2016

You feel this way, kind of free when you lie down __________________________________________     I've seen it, the cocking head, the dipping branch, but nowI'm thinking of something else. The long drawnOut day. The novelty of peaches inA new form. Savour the bird's body language, you may needIt to recognise yourself later. Like water, your head empties slowlyOf melody (though not ... (read more)

'Pope Pinocchio's Angels' a new poem by Michael Farrell

March 2015, no. 369 • 01 March 2015

    Angels are made from banksia. They are grown in Prague, areExported in all directions, and turn grey in air. TheyOnly fly in places where the ground is hard. IfYou try to count them they turn into numbers. IfYou try to call them they turn into names. TheyAre not decorative at parties but illustrative, of Guernica, for example ... (read more)

'Kangaroo Scientists of the Nineteenth Century', a new poem by Michael Farrell

December 2013–January 2014, no. 357 • 01 December 2013

In their crucibles they attempt a new kind of teaevery day, usually through a combination ofMethods, such as the fox method, the hydrangeamethod and the sunlight method this is a colour-Determined method in effect, though efforts areMade to avoid repeating any method on consecutivedays another of their efforts has gone into producingA quietness spray to be used at peak noise timesOf the day they a ... (read more)