I (Dublin to Edinburgh)
Above Belfast we start Titanic spotting,
It’s the season don’t you know.
Off the ledge steel is so indistinct
But look for where they break through emerald
Amongst white wake and draw parallel stains
Down from sea to sky.
Look, two out this morning!
Dare she blow, above and below,
That one there with a touch more colour,
without the aquatic screen, look how she charges
To the nape of her crook necked mother.
The other sinks past the sieve of attention.
Irish Sea, I’ll dredge treasure and memories a while.
Oh, North means Mountains
And South is Sea.
Johnny’s Up and Down
On Daddy’s knee.
She saw the seashells of England
Long before the Scottish seashore.
Hop-scotch, criss-cross, Double Dutch
Down country, down where Da drowned.
Brown Mountains with their frost crowns
Bearing up before the New Year’s
New load of newborns carry on down
To old Da Edinburgh’s town.
Did you know a city could glow?
Gold glass wink twice, big bird circle thrice
Watch the windows swallow the sun.
Here comes the aeroplane
Get ready for the bump.
King in the castle,
Goes Humpty-Dumpty dump.
II (Grounded)
The sky opens as we near the airport.
But I want to stay,
before that twilight stadium
Where school sparrows flocked
To foreground, four criss-crossed jet streams.
Running. Every-which-way but home.
Toulouse, 2016
You
Yes you
Do it again
Curl your tongue
Whisper
Colour the clouds
Make it rain
Make the sky spit
Make the river run
Apply pressure
Exs are ohs
You
Yes you
Do it again
Hood your eyes
Stand in my way
Map out your disguise
Show me the blood
Show me the cords
Tell me why the Angels
persuaded the water in your body
to taste like heaven
You
Yes you
Do it again
I have a fever
from a bite of your fingers
You
Yes you
Do a simple dare
Heart quakes
No
Jump
No, don’t do it
Waste your faith
Time to break the cycle
Jump
No
Do not give in
Let the sky cry
You
Yes you
Don’t talk to me
But I know more dances
Welcome to the masquerade
You
Yes you
Jump
Join me
The mind hallucinates
Body doesn’t follow
You
Yes you
Do it again
Can’t
Got no body
To find you contagious
. . .
Edward Willes is a Queensland poet who’s poetic artistry was conceived in experiences across the state but materialised through the lens of a Brisbane settler. Having been influenced by the contrast of his central highland origins and his newer urbanised adulthood, husbandhood and fatherhood, the idea of himself was suddenly confronted by who he was in opposition to who he thought he should be. While currently polishing his creative interests as an undergraduate student at Griffith University, poetry has become a recent obsession and a satisfying outlet to release a stewing internal dialogue that is concerned with the current cultural climate. Disjointed from the idea of what it is to be Australian as perpetuated by mainstream media and the politicians ‘leading this country’, his poems depict his own evolving Australian identity. Acknowledging the past, establishing ideas of truth in the present and looking with hope and concern into the future his outlook is presented through obscured images of setting, political commentary and everyday experience.
. . .
Nick van Buuren lives in his hometown of Brisbane and writes wherever he finds himself, whether it be Taipei, Toulouse or Dublin. Amongst a diverse array of occupations, ranging from hired hand at a paper bag factory to sandwich artist and wedding waiter, Nick studies Bachelors of Arts and Law at the University of Queensland. He majors in English Literature and Writing.
. . .
France Marie Karlsen is an avid wordsmith… bordering on the line of obsessive. She also lives a double-life as a belly dancer and communications professional. France made her debut on the literature scene by publishing three short stories in anthology 50 Shades of Awkward (writing as Antonia Bryan). When she is not reading or writing, France also performs spoken word in the Australian poetry scene. And when the muses do escape her (on the odd occasion), France is an avid blogger.
. . .
© Bareknuckle Poet ~ Journal of Letters & Individual Authors 2016. Edited by Brentley Frazer, A. G. Pettet & Guests. All works published by Bareknuckle Poet ISSN 2204 – 0420 are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Published by Bareknuckle Books ABN 23 626 812 677 PO Box 5009, West End, Brisbane, Australia 4101 FOUNDED – BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA 2014