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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.

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Workshops

Poetry: History & Appreciation

With Chris Wallace-Crabbe and a host of other established poets and tutors.

MONTHLY COURSE FOR 2010

This highly successful workshop from 2008 and 2009 is running again in 2010, but this time…

MONTHLY.

Poetry: History & Appreciation is a monthly course on the art of poetry and its long history, ranging from the storytelling and choric roles of preliterate cultures, to our own time. We will look at how Classical cultures, Christianity, the rise of printing and of the electronic media affected poetry’s themes and its forms. The course will also show how Australian poetry rose out of Western traditions, and will speculate on where poetry might be going next. Some key poems will be looked at in detail, but the broad, changing picture will be kept in mind. If you missed out last year, book now as places are already starting to fill.

Chris Wallace-Crabbe, poet and essayist, was born in Melbourne. Altogether he has sixteen volumes of poetry, a novel, and numerous prose works. His Selected Poems 1956-1995 (Carcanet Oxford Poets) won the Age Book of the Year Prize. In 1987 he won the quinquennial Dublin Prize for the Arts and Sciences, while in that year he also went to Harvard as Professor of Australian Studies. His latest book is Telling a Hawk from a Handsaw (Carcanet 2008).

The course will run on the first wednesday night (6-8pm) of each month for EIGHT months - Wednesday March 3rd, April 7th, May 5th, June 2nd, July 7th, August 4th, September 1st and October 6th.

Venue: The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne

Cost: $320 (APC/PU Members; Concession); $360 (Non members); or $60 on a monthly basis

To register please complete this form, click below to make payment via PayPal:

Payment Types

If you have a problem paying by Paypal, simply email admin@australianpoetrycentre.org.au with your details to make other arrangements or send a cheque or money order (stating the details of your payment) to PO Box 21082 Little Lonsdale Street VIC 8011.