Poem of the month

Each month the two FSP editors select a poem, from those read throughout that month, as the poem of the month. A laminated copy of the poem is awarded to the poet at the next FSP City meeting. This is peer recognition of a poem of high quality.

Poem of the Month – February 2026 – Fred Willett

The Poem of the Month for February 2026, selected by 2026 Anthology editors Elizabeth Salna and Erica Jolly, is Semaphore Jetty by Fred Willett. The commended poems are Escape by Nigel Ford, Some thoughts of somebody who hasn’t sailed solo around the world by Bruce Greenhalgh, The Doc Said by Susan O’Brien and Final crossing by Valerie Volk.

Semaphore Jetty
Fred Willett

Mum died
She’d gone years before, of course
An empty husk
A house long deserted. No one inside

We took her ashes to Semaphore Jetty on a crystal day
Ice wind. Kites flying
Kids on the carousel
And let her go gently into the turtle water
To start her next journey

Escape
Nigel Ford

With the staccato fire of the machine guns overhead
and the rumbling of heavy artillery in the distance
I bunker down prepared to ride out the storm
as flashes of brilliant light blind me through my window
but despite this cacophony of violence surrounding me
far removed from the company of family in our old home
I am at peace with the situation I find myself in
My fingers kneading the armrests of my recliner
I listen to the rain on the tin roof of my new house
the music of my own song
an anthem to new found independence
and escape from their quarrels

Some thoughts of somebody who hasn’t sailed solo around the world
Bruce Greenhalgh

I could fly to Rome;
I won’t.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – December 2025 – Steve Evans

The Poem of the Month for December 2025, selected by 2025 Anthology editors Val Braendler and Ben Adams, is North Yelta by Steve Evans. The commended poems are Jacaranda, Advent’s flower by Dawn Colsey, Big-hearted  Joe by Elizabeth Salna and Slammed by Jill Wherry.

North Yelta
Steve Evans

Before you wake
I sit at the table in the derelict house
that was your home
and watch the grey feathered sky.

If we could dismantle it,
we would take away the bed
on which you sleep a last time,
that bed you lay on first at ten
and have brought me to
at thirty five.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – November 2025 – Geoff Aitken

The Poem of the Month for November 2025, selected by 2025 Anthology editors Val Braendler and Ben Adams, is gratis is not a liveable wage by Geoff Aitken. The commended poems are 15 seconds by Mandy McPeake, Yellow Moon by Maxine Platt and Semaphore 2025 by Mike Ladd.

gratis is not a liveable wage
Geoff Aitken

he was unable to discuss
additional conditions
over the phone.

did say
caterers would be paid

so too the emcee.

the equipment
leased

and the premises
hired

while he as organiser
warranted a token fee.

my reputation
of course, acknowledged

and writing promoted,
if i agreed to terms.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – October 2025 – Kathryn von Bergen

The Poem of the Month for October 2025, selected by 2025 Anthology editors Val Braendler and Ben Adams, is Penguin Blood by Kathryn von Bergen. The commended poems are Mathematician’s Oath to the Infinite by Claudia Raddatz, Half Light by Fred Willet and Pebble Hunt at Aldinga Beach by Martha Landman.

Penguin Blood
Kathryn von Bergen

Now
late in my life,
a discovery
resonant with wonder,
recalibrating my sense of self:

1940 –
University of Adelaide
Kerr, Pfeiffer, Dutton, Harris
poets avant-garde
birthing Angry Penguins
from ashes of Phoenix –
the journal, a movement
in those heady days
of Modernism.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – September 2025 – Elaine Barker

The Poem of the Month for September 2025, selected by 2025 Anthology editors Val Braendler and Ben Adams, is Installation in Cast Iron by Elaine Barker. The commended poems are Performance by Veronica Cookson, Food Writer by Leon Ferrante and Between the River and the Sea by Alan Branford.

Installation in Cast Iron
Elaine Barker

Jonnie Dady Standing Work, no.3, 2008

It’s unsettling to see you planted here
free standing, perhaps abandoned,
your three legs lanky and rising
roughcast, surrounded by low bushes,
a grassy plot, a jacaranda grove.

It’s a quiet spot with music floating down
from the Conservatorium close by –
Constantin Shamray perhaps, rehearsing
Rachmaninov for the concert tonight.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – August 2025 – Rory Harris

The Poem of the Month for August 2025, selected by 2025 Anthology editors Val Braendler and Ben Adams, is Billy by Rory Harris. The commended poems are Perspective by Michele Slatter, Monopoly by John Atkinson and Today’s Tide by Pat Lee.

Billy
Rory Harris

the schoolyard is empty
the day noises are forgotten
are vaulted tight
each morning explodes its own celebration
its own defeat
in the smallness
in the greatness
of a universe
carried at the end of fingers
from canteen to classroom
where children arrive hungry

the moon floats behind clouds
like a toy
the neons buzz
blink from rocks thrown up
from dares
that did not explode them

shadows dance on the empty oval
ghosts of children
who once attended
hushed in the background

a mile away the highway churns
cars pull through the night
in both directions
drivers carry thoughts
into the darkness
steered along a thread of light
like a vein

Billy springs down the street
leaps over the fence
treads over the flower beds & lawns
it’s too early to leave footprints circled with dew
his head bobs out of the collar
of his turned-up jacket
a face full of freckles
hair like the sun
legs pistoned, hips & ground
he’s cat-like, mouse-like
the nervous creak of the school gate
nothing disturbs him
he ticks like a bomb
hands pulled in close to his body
he begins a shuffle
like a prisoner, like a drunk
who’s spent a life time acquiring a gait
& now almost never falls

Billy blends into the shadows
sleeks around the buildings
turns over a rubbish bin
scrambles up
peers into his classroom’s darkness
pulls back his sleeves
turns his hands into fists
into hammers
his breath stops
he punches the glass
the noise muffled by a scream
he pulls back
his breath comes with the shock
pain with the blood
with the ripping of flesh
arms opening
after the explosion
he jams them into pockets
the red oozing from flaps of skin with cloth
his body spins
starts into a run
the drunkenness of adrenaline flash
he turns into red light
the blood seeps out of his coat
leaves prints across the quadrangle
his feet kick into the night
as he bursts through
into the street’s silence
his blood absorbs the darkness
he hasn’t time for tears

Perspective
Michele Slatter

Thank you, Miss Carney, Miss Conway, Sister Ebba,
Mrs Daniels, Miss Kilmartin, Sister Cuthbert, Mrs Del.… Click for more

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