the necessary
the necessary leap,
hands in fiction, praying
earth. necessary
ponder, mind spent on
tessellating. necessary scent
of rosemary, blood and
order. necessary trust in
tome and tongue? necessary
stained wonder.
necessary still
Kevin Gillam
nyc.com.au
'And I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee,
the land wherein thou art a stranger ...'
–Genesis 17:8
A new pretence of destination
this virtual asylum for an exile at home
speaking with anonymities your community
is at call and liberty, the she-gestalt
stands o.er an alien harbour.
Reconfigured Athené, shrouded
by freedom's glorious mystery,
her new clothes, machinery you interacted,
pressing on buttons of conceit, the 'put on' display
at your installation, touch typing each public countenance —
her body sculpted by binary coded DNA —
from the vanity of believers,
her GM flower grows,
on screen her field lies, the land of promise wherein
thou art a stranger — all flesh is glass —
resident at your a.dressing.
Ben Hession
Kevin Gillam is a West Australian writer with work published in numerous Australian and overseas journals. His two published books of poetry are Other Gravities (2003) and Permitted To Fall (2007), both by SunLine Press.
Ben Hession's poetry was commended in a South Coast Writers Centre competition in 2006, and received a prize at Sappho's Books in Glebe this year. He coordinates an annual community radio Language of Origin series of ethnic language poetry as a part of National Poetry Week.