Canadian ice-skater
From a box of flicker
you appear before me.
Quickly, I lower my gaze
to the notebook.
Lyrically you glide,
along expanses of ice.
Classically you dance
in her arms – to my rhythm.
I lower my eyes.
Fill me with Canadian pride
just to taste a drop of your red wine
and roll in fluffs of your white snow.
Promise me Olympic rings
amongst rocky mountains
and wet maple leaves.
Promise.
I can’t look.
I can’t look at you Canadian ice-skater
Yet my gaze lifts and sticks
my teeth grind on your ice –
Dance with her, go on, dance,
razor skate over my flesh
to win that gold medal.
Sacrifice yourself.
Go on.
Whatever it takes.
You fucking
Canadian ice-skater.
Published in the Australian poetry center’s Blue Dog magazine Vol 9 No 17
Little Gina
Little Gina remember when we
hung out in your living room,
my sisters, your sisters with the
parents in the kitchen?
Remember?
We hung out ‘cause we had to –
my dad and your dad
been best of mates
since Cyprus days.
You were our baby, little Gina.
I think it’s been fifteen years since we
hung out in that living room.
What you been up to, little Gina?
Where you been?
I’ve been writing my life away.
Today’s your wedding day, little Gina.
Look at you, all grown up
in that big, white dress.
The DJs playing ta rialyia
and you’re dancing your sirto.
This is no Greek wedding.
It’s Cypriot.
Don’t cry during your speech, little Gina,
giggle like you used to.
Run to the park
don’t waltz on the dance floor.
Play with your dolls
don’t style your hair and makeup.
Where are you, little Gina?
Where’d you go?
Finally – Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (Picaro Press)
February 19, 2010 at 12:55 am (Creative commentary, Reviews) (Gil Scott Heron is on Parole, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Maxine Clarke, Picaro Press, Poems (PG rated))
What a refreshing change it was to attend this launch.
Overland editor and writer Jeff Sparrow opened the formalities of the night. Jeff has played an integral role in promoting Maxine’s poetry by allowing her to post it on the Overland blog – to me, Jeff is a pioneer in promoting challenging and all-to-often ignored writers. Politics was on his mind at the launch. He spoke of its importance to Australian literature. Current issues of the modern world seem almost ignored by Australian writers. He emphasised this using the example of climate change and that he could count the number of writers on his hand that were writing about climate change, an issue of cataclysmic proportions. I found myself pondering on this – why don’t we write about it? Is it because we feel we’re not informed enough to write about it? But isn’t that our job as writers, to not only tell our stories, but to write about our world’s truths? To keep informed so we can raise our voices against injustice? This is what makes Maxine’s raw, in-you-face poetry stand out – she talks politics, she talks truths, and she doesn’t sugar coat it either.
Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink 13 Comments