Ruby Street

"You have to betray in order to be truthful." Jacques Derrida, 'Following Theory: Jacques Derrida' in life.after.theory , eds Michael Payne and John Schad, Continuum, 2003, p. 11.

Also belatedly, check out the two new issues of Paul Hardacre's hutt online magazine. hutt 0.3 features poems by Michael Rothenberg, John Kinsella, David Prater, Richard Hillman, Mark Pirie, Clayton A. Couch, Jill Jones, Todd Swift, Joanne Burns. hutt 0.4 features poems by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Laurie Duggan, Joanne Burns, B.R. Dionysius, Luke Beesley, L.E. Scott, Andy Jackson, Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, Simon Hall, Jaya Savige.

I came home with some kind of cold/ virus/ sickness and writing isn't working terribly well for me at the moment. Soon, soon. Although I've come home, I'm still not at home. All that multivocal lyric remembrance. Later, later.

"...lyric poetry does not overcome anything ..." Emil Staiger, Basic Concepts of Poetry (Grundbegriffe der Poetik), p. 96. (trs. J.C. Hudson and L. Frank)

light doesn't long falls too early these days after a month when sun faded so late over rivers, chimney tops yes, night falls and clatters in tetchy autumn leaves too bad, I liked its length and its fret

And another announcement. Pam Brown won this year's Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for her book of new and selected poems, Dear Deliria , a Salt book. So, many many congrats to Pam. More details about the award.

This announcement is a little late (mi scusi) but ... the first issue of the online journal foam:e is now up. It was edited by Angela Gardner and contains a wide selection of terrific work, much of it by members of the Poetry Espresso list plus many others. Here's the list of fabulous contributors: Andrew Burke, Jen Crawford, MTC Cronin, Del Ray Cross, Laurie Duggan, kari edwards, Michael Farrell, William Fox, Angela Gardner, Kristin Hannaford, Jill Jones, Jayne Fenton Keane, S.K. Kelen, John Leonard, Anthony Lynch, Aoife Mannix, Chris Mansell, Heather Matthew, Peter Minter, Brendan Ryan, Jaya Savige, Gerald Schwartz, Lawrence Upton, Les Wicks, Tim Yu. There's an Australian bias but, hey, that's OK. Happy reading! Many thanks to Angela in getting it together and to Cassie Lewis for all her energies in keeping us Poetry Espressoists focussed on poetry (and sometimes coffee and other things) during its time as one of the best poetry lists (imho). By the way, t...

Just stepped off the plane from Singapore about two and a half hours ago, early in the morning. After a month away, and even factoring in jetlag, I'd still have to say that Sydney and indeed my own home seem a bit alien to me. There have been visible changes as well. Our neighbout cut down a big tree in his front yard, for instance, and another in his backyard. And it is definitely colder than when we left, colder than Europe and way colder than Singapore, naturally. Finished ploughing through a pile of mail (the postal stuff). In the next day or so, I'll add some thoughts about the time spent away.

stretching ripple and fold of Australia worn vastness smell the heat of Singapore fuel and tar . travel is more walking looking for signs interpretation - wrong a lot of stairs that could go nowhere depending . climbing into night its metallic creak expanse, its different heights clouds below unknowing . city crowds their own ways Prague's, the bridge where you learn to be safe with sore calves . lit pre-evening city unknown birds in the hill park . a bee drinks turn by turn from weed flowers among Hebrew stones small yellow petals from the elms above in a line across the top of gravestones small pebbles and coins 'salut' says one another - 'I wish for children'

the invisible city is always with you the way you know its inside dream while the unknown city with its clashing its sirens and bells and strange rain charms transverses your map and in its latitude confuses all your directions every way is underground

cob- ble slips rain ahead stone cement blonde on blonde la! there and there blossoms dead writers live/script/on books books books livres paris dogs doggies dog shit slip 'a' where 'q' should be, slips - some quick notes on the journey