HOLD THAT TIGER
By Chloe Wilson
That morning, in the mirror,
I’d pulled my draping cheek-skin upward.
I had shone, taut and foreign,
the gums and incisors
glistering with saliva.
While evening and the show crowds gathered,
I watched him. The chain glinked
as he traced his circle,
always stalking - even the grass
shivered under his breath.
Entering the ring, he beckoned
me to dance, laid one
paw on each shoulder
and rolled me in the dirt.
His mouth opened wide
as bedclothes, and I scented
the iron on his tongue
while he hinged his hips
and the crowd thought I was dying.
Tigers like to dine alone.
I knew this; yet stayed a moment
too long, waiting
for an invitation
and was not all that surprised
to find a joint of meat missing
from my thigh.
They hunt by pressing you
to their hearts, then
kicking out your insides
in a casual sweep.
There’s the danger.
Not, after all, in the teeth
but beneath the tail,
which, like a finger,
searches out any pleasures
the front end may have missed.
This one slid
his tongue along the contours
of my bowel,
sniffing like a sommelier.
That night, he cleaned himself
thoroughly, that supple
tongue spreading like a stingray
under the nails
and detailing the groin;
ignoring the crowd
nobly, as they shook
the metal bars
that keep them safe.
‘Hold That Tiger’ is featured in The Mermaid Problem, Chloe Wilson’s first collection that has been published as part of the APC’s 2010 New Poets Series, more details here.
“Poetry is a central art. Often seen as difficult, it nevertheless distills a language, concentrating its essence, its cultural core. From nursery rhymes on, poetry is what sticks in the mind: a line here, a stanza there. It was essential for Australia to have a focusing centre for this often quiet art, and here it is – flourishing at the Wheeler Centre.”
Professor Chris Wallace-Crabbe (Chair, Australian Poetry Centre)
The Australian Poetry Centre offers an annual program of national events and opportunities. Please navigate through the menus on the left to see full details of the 2010 APC Program.
CURRENT APC NEWS
After the success of our national poetry festival in Goolwa in April, the last couple of months at the Australian Poetry Centre have seen the development of a series of new initiatives, which are exciting ‘firsts’ for the organization and for poetry in Australia.
As part of our education program, Out Loud, a spoken word program for schools is beginning to hit its stride. Managed by our Education Officer, Emilie Zoey Baker, schools are beginning to register for heats/workshops.
Student representatives will meet in August before competing as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival early September. Our School Poet Laureate Program, which kicked off in Goolwa at our Poetry Festival, will also be launched in Victoria, as part of the Festival and we are currently seeking schools and students who want to get involved in this exciting new initiative. If you want more information, please email education@australianpoetrycentre.org.au for details.
Poetopia, a poetry website for schools and students is in the last stage of development before being officially launched and trialed with schools across the country. This is a website that will transform the way poetry is taught and studied in schools. A unique design and format, this is an exciting step forward for poetry in education. Stay tuned for more details.
Our Events Program is moving along nicely. It was a focus for 2010 for the APC to run sustainable events, include people and poets from outside the traditional ‘poetry scene’ and establish ourselves firmly in the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne, which is why many of our events seem to be Melbourne-centric. However, in 2011, our events will have a far greater national focus.
In May, we ran Dreaming in Auslan which incorporated deaf poets and an interpreter. We would like to make more of our events accessible to all Australians and this was a big step forward in this regard. Poems from Home, attracting poets from a range of countries including Venezuala, Romania, Scotland, Turkey and others, was another example of an attempt to be more inclusive in our programming. Fiona Jordan is managing our Events Program with great commitment and vision. Our next big events are a Peter Porter Tribute in partnership with the Wheeler Centre and a 24 hour poetry play competition on July 3rd. For more information, email events@australianpoetrycentre.org.au
‘Publications’ is an arm of the APC we are looking to grow. Our next edition of Blue Dog is currently being edited, preparing for publication. Our New Poets Series is out and selling fast.
The official launch of the collection will happen on July 1st by Rosemary McKenzie. The books are already available online by emailing admin@australianpoetrycentre.org.au. Working with Relationships Australia and Gracia & Louise, we also produced a publication called Dear Dad for Father’s Day.
We are launching a MOBILE POETRY LIBRARY which will travel around regional Victoria during the second half of 2010 with poets who will run workshops and read poetry at various locations - stay tuned for Andy’s Blog about adventures on the road.
On top of this, Café Poets for 2010 is mow open for application. You can read more about the program and apply here. The deadline for Cafe Poets is 31st October, so apply soon. Our poetry radio shows with SYNFM and RRR continue and we are accepting submissions for What Comes First: a song written by James Roche which needs lyrics (deadline Sept 30). We’re preparing an evening of Poetry Monologues for the Melbourne Writers Festival, an evening of poetry films at Cinema Como as part of the Poetry in Film Festival and have planned some exciting workshops for the second half of the year: The Business Of Poetry (how to develop a sustainable career as a poet), a Zen Poetry Workshop at the Melbourne International Fine Art Gallery and our online workshops continue with established poet, Ron Pretty. All very exciting and proving to keep things very busy at the APC.
APC Staff