That’s right, this Sunday, SpeedPoets will feature not one, but two poets all the way from the UK!
The 2011 Arts QLD Poet-in-Residence, Jacob Polley will give his first reading on Brisbane soil and Ashley Martin will give her only Australian reading while she is in the country, so make sure you are there to help roll out the SpeedPoets carpet and welcome these fine artists to the stage.
Jacob has been a flurry of activity these past few weeks, facilitating a weekly poetry workshop at QLD Writers Centre on Tuesday nights and most recently, jet-setting up to Rockhampton for a series of workshops and readings. If you are keen to know more about what Jacob is up to during his residency and how you can connect with him, you can email Sarah Gory at qldpoetry(at)gmail.com .
And as Ashley is out here holidaying, I jumped at the chance to have her feature at SpeedPoets.
Here’s two recent poems to introduce you to Ashley’s work:
Warbler
I have built a model
bird house
with windows
in the tree tops
a way to catch
each gnat
until seasons shift
and glory outstrips
this habitat
passing songs
through my walls
to find a continent.
********************
Little Flock
I dreamt you were in a bird costume
struggling with your feathers,
silent behind the beak.
It could mean the hatching of some plan
to wake up and leave this nest
we did not build
on the sibilants of song
but the habit of each other,
a twig the measure of our touch.
It was enough to weave together branches.
********************
Another Lost Shark 