Poems
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Cleistocactus winteri (Golden Rat Tail)
By Maria TakolanderSuch obscene sea-green
swarming hardly belongs in
this frankness of sun.
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Botanic / “One-way conversation with Agapanthus”
By Cameron LoweTrouble is
the reflective lyric pose
won’t hold, when every time I greet you
vision splits (courtesy -
Enter the Yellow Tower
By Elena Gomezwe grew a little slower sometimes
we needed to protect ourselves
we self-seeded on the cliff face
we splashed out real nice -
At the Tandicals
By Chris Wallace-Crabbe“It is good to know the truth, but better to speak of palm trees.”
(Peter Steele, after the Arabic)
From the high lawns -
Botanic / "Beginning with four words from a poem by Joseph Massey"
By Cameron LoweThere’s little
to say. The fig—
giant—leans
across the -
Echinopsis spachiana (Torch Cactus)
By Maria TakolanderA forest, they rise
to the god of night and, awed,
ignite in blossom.
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Arms of a friend
By Carissa Lee GodwinFor Monterey Cypress
Origin: Mexico, South America
How many hearts have broken beneath your arms -
Agave franzosini (Grey Ghost)
By Maria TakolanderWhat a soul baring:
all this barbed glory laid out
for the noonday sun.
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Botanic / “Commission”
By Cameron Lowe—for Tamryn Bennett
Tired my eyes
having done nothing but speak
turtle talk to tortoise -
Step Off Golden Rat Tail
By Elena Gomezhere a clumped heart &
welts soon for the softer plush—
our thickened carpet slug.
we are on a different level -
The bean seller's tale
By Maria TakolanderOnce upon a time,
we were cast as
hoodwinkers, thaieves,
old-timers of the deranged forests -
Ceiba insignis (White Silk Floss Tree)
By Maria TakolanderAncient sun of gold—
smuggled down this studded trunk
to the underworld
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Euphorbia caput-medusae (Medusa’s Head)
By Maria TakolanderIts skyward forays
thwarted, it lays low, seething—
fires with its own stars
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Remnant
By Ryan Prehnremnant /ˈrɛmnənt/ noun
1. a part or quantity that is left after the greater part has been used, removed, or destroyed.
i. a piece of cloth left when the greater part has been used or sold.
ii. a surviving trace. -
CBD Flower-Seller / Self-portrait
By Autumn RoyalThe flower-seller pulls a wagon into her failed
self-possession, a timeless testimony
for the story-teller. She will not sit restfully
with her hands in her lap, they are tied -
Botanic / "Hermeneutics"
By Cameron Lowe“The land escapes because it refuses”
—Tony Baker
Turned the sun over -
Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus)
By Maria TakolanderBurrs of spiked lemon
spill themselves—what a fuss on
the volcanic rock
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Golden Bogey
By Duncan HoseI am insuperably lazy and this makes me proud.
Midnight in Derby
a new suburb of Melbourne
Where Fitzleroy used to be -
Floral Axis
By Autumn RoyalThis is not a concentration of dramatic method.
There appears to be a growing expectation
language can be trusted for clarity, a petal,
yet these segments are modified & leave a waxy
