Poem of the Month – November 2023 – Geoff Johnson

The Poem of the Month for November 2023, selected by 2023 Anthology Editors, Maria Vouis and Rob Ferris, is All Saints by Geoff Johnson. The commended poems for November are Love in Triplets by Erica JollyAfter the Poem by Gail Walker and Spur-winged Plovers by Murray Alfredson.


All Saints
Geoff Johnson

Somehow the teachings have settled
maybe scattered
’cross the pavements of their minds
something of the living impulse
stirred in their hearts.

A sound not suppressed
feathered in the wind
rattling
with ghosts in the night.

They’ve buried their hurts
not knowing where to find them
unearthing what they claim
as their own.

They drift in and out
tie their souls to a mast
lonely, in the imagination of faith
its mythic, storied persuasion.

They gather their friends
hands held tightly
in the unforgiving twists
and dark turns of their fates.

All the while
hallelujahs
echo from emptied chambers.
Deep, unrequited solace
only angels can touch.


Love in Triplets
Erica Jolly

Love arrived in a post card
of two old women, side by side,
dressed neck to ankle in sensible black.
 
Love dribbled a round ball
at the twinkling feet of girls
entrancing all excited by their skill.
 
Once love, a lyrebird,
with its symphony of sounds 
inspired Messiaen to compose his final work.
   
Love found the strength
in its trinity with Faith and Hope
to offer us an inclusive way into tomorrow.
 
Love sought to open minds
and souls to the wellspring of recognition
through the Uluru Statement from the Heart.


After the Poem
Gail Walker

it was just
me and the moon
walking home


Spur-winged Plovers
Murray Alfredson

Like Messerschmidts
or Hurricanes strafing,
turn by turn
they flew at me,
their raucus calls
machine-gun rapid.

Eye to eye
they held my gaze,
their onflight steady
till subtly swerving
they swooped close past.
I felt on cheeks and ears
their wing-beat wind.
Some twenty metres
on they wheeled,
attacked anew.

Those spurs held power;
to hurt; they did none.


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