Issue 4: Michael Farrell
lyric
between two mental prefectures. The relief & dismay remain stable
remarkable it has happened now, initials etc., outside
the acceptable margin, a dunce cap worn for the colour or design
very well thoughts belief; his new fetish for light was blame-
worthy. Probably going out blind, or seeing not feeling,
tasting ham thats not there, someone whos prone to nausea
15 FEB. Summers day. – Boxing valentines presents, down To single
Layers, in a country where marriage was still illegal his lover
of a compressed period runs off to England, tying
The Knot, a honeymoon he hated to imagine. Kiss
my briefcase he wrote; intra, nightmare had become a permanent
state, dice being more like jewels than sesame boxes, smearing
the fan till it broke.
18 FEB. Summers day. – They lit A Flame,
hi' this was the static everyone Had described. They
Discussed their status before the hotel; always he thinks
Of poland his ankles in foam
Tongues talking at once;
two choices one getting Under the rider; he
comes & sits with the community like one under control, these
are all effects of refusing anothers hand.
19 FEB. Summers day. – In the shimmer of curtains
big germans, sometime hollywood extras & madam, come in come go away!
There was no reason to stay here, speaking english for an hour
turns to love self portrait with balloon im still Alive. Silent
Flowering & calling, Man in car in
The distance another wideeyed victim;
with hair like butterfly wings. Who could bear to castrate
them, their pitiful lunchboxes warming the air melting
jelly-crystals finally in the fun food arena, – &
this is how we cure ourselves of making art!
Noone lives there
I had the hang, of getting lost.
Always asleep, jealous & praying but never estranged
Note
'lyric' was written on an asialink residency to japan, & draws on a range of poetic forms and the poetics of nishiwaki junzaboro.
Michael Farrell is a PhD student at the University of Melbourne. His research concerns non-verse poetic experimentation in nineteenth century Australia. He has published three books of poetry, most recently a raiders guide (Giramondo, 2008), and is the co-editor (with Jill Jones) of Out of the Box: Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets (Puncher and Wattmann, 2009).
Copyright © 2010 by Michael Farrell, all rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of Copyright law. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the notification of the journal and consent of the author.
