behind the mirror
your rough skin and thick neck
my face delivered into working hands
a river salt leached in compounded tide
palms breathing internally like a cup
heels compressed into my chin
into the folds of my forehead
skin peeled fingers
bearing weight
your shoulders braced away from wrists
.
First published in Southerly Literary Journal 76.2, November 2016
audio versions found here
a piece of the ground
polystyrene impacted
reduced to glutinous meal
luxuriating in a dish of rind
honey muzzled
the bread sopped egg
cavern shadow dipped
in molten soup
yolk disguising
a tempest spoon
1.
turquoise town
flagged rooftops
revolution red
ripped on the city outskirts
binoculars on Buddha’s blessings
butter melting
the sage fired air
curtains pulled
over Beijing’s chosen Panchen
homage to a stolen lama
military molestation
a monk pat down measure
at temple gates
machine gun checkpoints
operating their lungs
over chanting nomads
clockwise hum plaited
om mani padma hung
in the hair of pilgrims
in the base of the belly
in the neck
behind eyes
in the right breast
a tourist attraction
one way permeability
all Tibetan passports
confiscated in 2012
2.
the train reversing
a forty-hour goodbye
in a smoke-filled carriage
beige borders blur
ranges melt
an airport gate
a wing span night
waves folding on the sound
of the 747
a cold window thaws
into an opposing season
Air Asia knees
white slippers under blanket
in the seat pocket
Hemmingway’s The Old Man And The Sea
written in Chinese and English
bought at the Beijing station
and permitted to enter
Lhasa
his nails are blunt
on the wine class
a candle’s reflection
When I read this work out loud, I feel like I’m naked on a coat hanger … this is a difficult piece for me, yet one that I am most proud of. In 2012 my poetry mentor Claire Gaskin prompted the class to express 10 years of life in three word sentences. Instantly I was reminded of my son’s prosody of speech. I felt like I’d finally found the way to express our story. The work was first published in Southerly’s Long Paddock and can be found here.
Like other work I have written in collaboration with Max, I believe the piece is more powerful when heard.
The audio of Max in three words can be found here
In Collaboration with Max is poetry composed by Max Lewis and Rebecca Sullivan. Max experiences autism as well as delayed intellectual and physical growth. Max’s poetics is experimental and he can be heard expressing himself in venues across Melbourne. Rebecca and Max collaborate to advocate for the voice of differently abled poets. A selection of poems from In Collaboration with Max were first Published in Southerly Literally Journal 76.2
In Collaboration with Max includes 9 poems and a Poetics Blue Print titled The ‘Special Needs’ of Poetry. The audio versions of these poems are found below.
Poetics Blue Print – The ‘Special Needs’ of Poetry
A recital of a small selection of the collaborative poems is viewed here
A recital of a selection of the collaborative poems with improvised jazz is found here
Hear Max performing here
