Poems: Montage I and II
Books & Poetry
This week’s Poet’s Corner comprises a pair of poems from Anthony Camm.
Montage I
When you drew me
to be seen through your eyes
born of your hand
was to love myself for the first time.
Now estranged
yet we remain
in your sketchbooks
the arbiter of memory
cloistered and compressed
each turned page
a fragile excavation…
Montage II
You often walked alone
to quieten your mind
but on Saturdays
we walked together
around the lake.
One day we walked
somewhere different:
Under a freeway
across a broken hill –
you wanted to show me
where the wallabies graze,
we traced a shallow creek
and found a verdant enclave
of drowsy eucalyptus
and divaricated longing
the nimbus of proximity
keeping us together and apart.
The path led to a concrete drain;
impulsive steps, slipping,
our intrepidity punished;
pain flowed into you,
I took you away from the accident…
At the hospital:
Is it all right if I touch you?
Yes, it’s alright.
In that moment, we were indivisible…
Anthony Camm lives in Ballarat. With a degree in social science from La Trobe University and graduate and post-graduate qualifications in art history and art curatorship from Melbourne University, he has followed a career in the arts and cultural sector. He is presently the manager of the Eureka Centre, at the historic site of the Eureka Stockade, prior to which he served for 11 years as director of the Ararat Gallery TAMA. Journalling and songwriting have also been strong personal pleasures. His writing on art has appeared in Art Monthly Australia, Eyeline and in numerous exhibition catalogues.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.
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