A Poem For a Thursday | Anna Akhmatova #RUSpoem

Photo | Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash Anna Akhmatova was a Russian modernist poet (11th June 1889 Odessa - 1966 Moscow). She was part of the Acmeist group of poets in Russia from about 1910, 'their ideals were compactness of form and clarity of expression' (wikipedia). Other Acmeist poets were Nikolay Gumilev (Anna's husband for a while), Sergei Gorodetsky, Osip Mandelstam, … Continue reading A Poem For a Thursday | Anna Akhmatova #RUSpoem

The Orange Tree | John Shaw Neilson #poetrymonth

[Kumquat] Photo by Tina Xinia on Unsplash During Poetry Month, I find that poems pop up everywhere. In chapter 10 (Furnishing the Capitol) of Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse, Edith, our charming but ageing protagonist recites a couple of stanzas of John Shaw Neilson's poem, The Orange Tree. She is inspired to do so after eating a cumquat … Continue reading The Orange Tree | John Shaw Neilson #poetrymonth

Native-Born | Eve Langley #AWWpoem

East Gippsland panorama | Image source Native-Born, according to Wikipedia, regularly appears in Australian anthologies. However I had never come across it until an article in The Conversation last year when Donna Mazza^ referenced it. Mazza declared that, Native-Born...is still startlingly relevant to contemporary ecofeminism by subtly linking the discovery and cremation of a dead … Continue reading Native-Born | Eve Langley #AWWpoem

Fire Front | edited by Alison Whittaker #AUSpoetry

This incredible book is a testament to the renaissance of First Nations poetry happening in Australia right now.UQP website Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today is an anthology of poems and essays from many well-known and emerging First Nations writers and thinkers. It is powerful and confronting stuff. It is very contemporary, yet … Continue reading Fire Front | edited by Alison Whittaker #AUSpoetry

Cywydd y Cedor | Gwerful Mechain #Dewithon22

 Based on John Edward Lloyd's History of Wales, Vol I and Koch's Celtic Culture Gwerful Mechain (c. 1460–c. 1502) is considered to be one of the first female Welsh poets. She wrote about female sexuality and the domestic issues of medieval women. Her parents were Gwenhwyfar and Hywel Fychan from Mechain (a medieval cantref or land division), in … Continue reading Cywydd y Cedor | Gwerful Mechain #Dewithon22

The Creatures’ Choir | Carmen Bernos De Gasztold #poetry

Last month I feature a few of the prayer/poems from Carmen Bernos de Gasztold's collection called Prayers From the Ark. These simple French poems had been rediscovered by Rumer Godden and then translated into English during the 1960's. The second collection of poems, The Creatures' Choir (1965), errs more on the side of poetry than prayers. … Continue reading The Creatures’ Choir | Carmen Bernos De Gasztold #poetry

Dropbear | Evelyn Araluen #AWWpoetry

According to wikipedia a drop bear is a fictional creature, an urban myth, designed by Australians to scare tourists. It has even been given a fictional scientific name - Thylarctos plummetus. According to folklore it looks like "a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala" and lives in gumtrees, dropping onto the heads of unsuspecting bushwalkers. … Continue reading Dropbear | Evelyn Araluen #AWWpoetry

Yuiquimbiang | Louise Crisp #PoetryMonth

In her Preface, Louise Crisp describes her collection of poetry, Yuiquimbiang as an 'ecopoetic form that integrates political essay and environmental poetics: a project that evolved out of my double life as a poet and environmental activist'. The regions she writes about the East Gippsland and the Monaro. Crisp's poems and texts evolve from her … Continue reading Yuiquimbiang | Louise Crisp #PoetryMonth