The Poem of the Month for April 2024, selected by 2024 Anthology editors Ivan Rehorek (Avalanche) and Martha Landman, is Say Cheese by Bruce Greenhalgh. The commended poems are Suddenly the Sky by Margaret Dingle and The Famous Last words of the Male Driver by Beth Baillie.
Say Cheese
Bruce Greenhalgh
In my younger years
I wanted to be a cheese.
I wasn’t aiming high.
I wasn’t ‘getting ahead of myself’.
I wasn’t thinking Camembert or Brie,
more your Cracker Barrel or tasty cheddar,
even processed cheese sandwich slices would do.
In time though, I learnt I wasn’t cut out to be a cheese,
and that was disappointing.
Yet, I reconciled myself to this.
I realized that finding out who we are
also means finding out who we’re not.
And if I didn’t self-actualize in the dairy section of the supermarket,
perhaps I could be an item from aisle three
or something from the bakery?
I might only be a loaf of home-brand, sliced, white bread,
but you never know,
if I team up with a jar of Vegemite from aisle five
and one of those toasters that are on a special near the breakfast cereal?
Alone we’re not much, but together,
we could really be something.
Suddenly the Sky
Margaret Dingle
suddenly the sky
is filled with white birds flying ~
eventide
The Famous Last words of the Male Driver
Beth Baillie
The famous last words of the male driver
The dotted line gave way intermittently to pot holes,
the rain was fair bucketing down.
Do you think we should stop?
Nah,
gotta keep going,
we’ll be on the highway soon,
easy as from there.
The dotted line and potholes gave way to gravel road.
Are you sure we shouldn’t stop?
Positive,
this isn’t the was I usually go
but we’re headed in the right direction.
The gravel road gave way.