ANUNQUIETPOETRY:

Eco-ConsciousnessinKateFagan’sFirstLight

and

EARTHWORKS

acollectionofpoems

LUCIAMOON

MasterofResearch

WesternSydneyUniversity

2021

Acknowledgements

IacknowledgeandpaymyrespectstotheDharugandGundungurrapeople,theTraditional

Custodiansofthelandonwhichthisthesiswaswritten.SovereigntywasnevercededandI

write recognising my position on Aboriginal lands. I would like to thank my supervisor,

ProfessorIvorIndyk,forhisinvaluableinsightandsupportthroughouttheprocessofwriting.

ThankyoutoDrKateFagan,foranastonishingcollectionofpoetry.IamgratefultoDrJames

Gourley andAssociateProfessorChrisAndrews, for their inspirational classes in theearly

stagesofmydegree,andtoDrMelindaJewell,forheravailabilityandencouragement.Thank

youtomyparents,HelenTarantoandIanMoon,andtomybrother,SamMoon,foralltheir

loveand support. Thank you tomydear friends,Benita Laylim,ViolaNazario andNatalie

Stuart,fortheircreativeandphilosophicalwisdoms.Finally,thankyoutomypartner,Hollie

Matthew,forherintellectualpassion,attentivecuriosityandforinspiringtheAudreypoems.

StatementofAuthentication

Theworkpresentedinthisthesisis,tothebestofmyknowledgeandbelief,originalexcept

asacknowledgedinthetext.IherebydeclarethatIhavenotsubmittedthismaterial,either

infullorinpart,foradegreeatthisoranyotherinstitution.

..............................................................

(Signature)

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Abstract

AnUnquietPoetryisatwo-partthesisconsistingofanexegesisandacreative

component.Theexegesis,“Eco-consciousnessinKateFagan’sFirstLight”,examinesFagan’s

collectionofpoetryFirstLightinaneco-poeticalcontext,withthegoalofdetermininghow

aconsciouslyrelationalaestheticpositionstheworkinopendialoguewiththehumanand

non-humanworldsofitssurrounds.Thecreativecomponent“Earthworks”comprisesa

collectionofmyownpoetry,arrangedinthreesequences.Together,theexegesisand

creativecomponentconsidertherelationshipbetweenanexperimentaluseoflanguageand

anecocriticalintentionofaddressingclimatejustice.

SupportedbythetheoryofanthropologistDeborahBirdRoseandtheresearchof

GomeroiwomanProfessorHeidiNorman,theexegesispositsthatacommitmentto

decolonisationiscentraltoanecocriticalpractice,whichmustwitnesstheviolenceofthe

pastwhileincorporatingIndigenousknowledges,foundedonsustainability.Theexegesis

furthermakesuseofthetheoryofculturalthinkersAmitavGhoshandTimothyClark,to

advocateforanexperimentalpoetrywhichseekstobreakbourgeoisconsciousnessofthe

everydaythroughanecologicalrevitalisationoftheimagination.FirstLightisreadforits

formalqualities,includingtherecyclingofmaterial,theuseofadiscourseofscienceand

experimentationwithperception,timeandscale.ChapterOneintroducesFagan’staskof

place-makingwhichisengenderedthroughanethicsofinterconnectedness.ChapterTwo

examinesthequestionoflanguage’sculpabilityandcapabilityinconfrontingthemany

socialandecologicalcomplexitiespresentedinFagan’scollection.

Mycollectionofpoetry“Earthworks”issimultaneouslyperformative,playfulandseriousin

itsapproach.Itisstructuredinthreesequences,withtheopeningsequence“Echo”

documentinganinheritanceofcolonialismindailyurbanandsemi-ruralAustralianlife.The

middlesequence“Ego”takestheformofanabecedarium,with26poemsfromAtoZ

juxtaposingtheminutiaeandcomplicationsofdwellingwithintheAnthropocene.Thefinal

sequence“Elemental”isstructuredinfoursections,“Earth”,“Air”,“Fire”and“Water”.It

offersamoremeditativeapproach,throughexplorationofasenseofresponsibilitytothe

earthanditspeople.LanguagehereisatoolforunsettlingWesterndualitiesofotherness,

whilealludingtoadiverse,creativeandmoresustainablefuture.

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CONTENTS

Eco-ConsciousnessinKateFagan’sFirstLight………………………………………….…….3

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….….4

Chapter1:MakingPlace……………………………………………………………….……..12

1.1 ToLook,ToSee…………………………………………………………………….…….12

1.2 Light,TimeandScale…………………………………………………………..….….14

1.3 TheNon-HumanOther………………………………………………………..…….18

1.4 TheTechnologicalandtheModern………………………………………….…22

Chapter2:ExpandingLanguage………………………………………………….………..26

2.1 InscriptiontoRecallaWay……....………………………………………...….….26

2.2 AnInheritanceofColonialism………………………………………………….…29

2.3 Language,LandandConsciousness………………………………………......33

2.4 PoetryasSubversion………………………………………………………………….38

2.5 HealingandExpansiveness…………………………………………………………41

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………48

EARTHWORKS……………………………………………………………………………….……………50

Echo…………………………………………………………………………….………………………51

Ego…………………………………………………………………………………………….………..57

Elemental………………………………………………………………………………….…………89

WorksCited………………………………………………………………………………………………103

AdditionalWorksConsulted………..……………………………………………………..108

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Eco-ConsciousnessinKateFagan’sFirstLight

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INTRODUCTION

It iswidelyrecognisedbyscholarsandpublicopinionalikethat lifeonearthaswe

knowithasenteredintoanewgeologicalepochknownastheAnthropocene,or“theageof

humans”(Muiretal.3).Thiserahasbeennamedforhumanactivityontheplanetincluding

deforestation, agriculture, extraction, industrial production and consumption which have

dominated earth’s biosphere so drastically as to create global, ecological imbalances. In

Australiaalone,thereverberationsoftheseimbalancesweresignificantlyfeltduringthe2019

- 2020 bushfires,which, fuelled by drought, freak temperatures and unpredictablewinds

withinafewweeksconsumedatleast17millionhectaresofbush,farmlandanddecimated

severaltowns(Muiretal.12).In2020,aNSWbushfireinquiryconfirmedaclearlinkbetween

globalwarmingandthedevastatingfireseason,whichhadoccurredonascaleunseen“in

Australiainrecordedhistory”(BushfireInquiryiv).Thereportalsoforewarnedthat“arepeat

of firesof that scale,orworse, is a realisticprospect”and that “we shouldexpect to see

seriousfiresmorefrequently”(BushfireInquiry79).

Thestateofhumananxietytoward“loomingorcurrentlyunfoldingcatastrophe”asa

resultofglobalclimatechangehasbeendescribedbyLynnKellerastheperiodofthe“self-

conscious Anthropocene” (2). Science demonstrates that we are right to be anxious; as

AustralianclimatescientistJoëlleGergishighlights,already1°ofglobalwarminghasoccurred

sincepre-industrialtimes(definedasbetween1850–1900)andwithit,50percentofthe

GreatBarrierReefisdead(Gergis32).Further,evenifweweretorestrictglobalwarmingto

themostambitiouscurrentgoalof1.5°,additionaldestructionofbetween70and90percent

ofreef-buildingcoralsworldwideisguaranteed,accordingtotheIntergovernmentalPanelon

ClimateChange’sSpecialReportonGlobalWarmingof1.5° (qtd. inGergis31).Ofcourse,

marinecorallifeisbutonelifeformatrisk;withanestimated3billionanimalscaughtinthe

blazesoftheAustralianblacksummer,koalasarenowfacingextinction,whilecountlessplant

specieslanguishontheendangeredspecieslist(vanEedenetal.5).

For humans, the direct impacts of climate change are most discernible when

consideringtheislandnationofTuvalu.Standingatjust4.5metresabovesealevel,theisland

and its people are in a critically fragile position, being vulnerable to extreme weather

patterns, risingwaters, flooding,warming seas and erosion (Tiatia 329). “Beingwilling to

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acknowledgethearrivalofthepointofnoreturnisanactofbravery,”Gergisstates(32).The

interdisciplinaryfieldofecocriticism,whichcanbetracedatleastbacktothe1980s,seeks

firstand foremost toacknowledge thatpointof crisis; to faceheadon the risingwaveof

climate effects and anxiety through thework of natural scientists,writers, literary critics,

anthropologists andhistorians, all collaboratingwithenvironmental intent anda senseof

human accountability to the earth (Glotfelty and Fromm xix). Central to the ecocritical

practiceisacommitmenttodecolonisation(Levin172);therecanbenoenvironmentaljustice

withoutjusticefortheTraditionalOwnersoftheland,wholivedharmoniouslywithnature

formorethan60,000years,priortoinvasionin1788.Anecocriticalpracticealsoentailsa

returntoandincorporationofIndigenousknowledgesandpracticeswhicharefoundedonan

ethicsofsustainability.

Sincecontact,thedestructiveimpactofcolonisationonboththehumanandmore-

than-human spheres inAustralia is palpable.As anthropologistDeborahBirdRose states:

“Settlersocietiesarebuiltonadualwar:awaragainstNatureandawaragainstthenatives.

Each has been devastating” (34). Rose, who spent many years learning from Aboriginal

teachers in the Northern Territory, summarises the Australian genocide and ecocide as

follows:

Devastation includes the loss of around 90 per cent of the original Aboriginal

population,thelossofallbutasmallnumberofAboriginallanguages,andthelossof

earlier cultural coherenceof thecontinent throughAboriginalnetworksof cultural

exchange.Itincludesthelossoflargenumbersofplantandanimalspecies,including

the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the contemporary world. (35)

Today,environmentaldestructioniscontinuallytiedupwithanongoingcolonialproject,as

highlightedbyProfessorHeidiNorman’s2019studyoftheDarlingRiveratWilcannia,NSW.

Norman is aGomeroiwoman and leading researcher in the field of AustralianAboriginal

politicalhistory.AtthetimeofNorman’sstudy,theriveratWilcanniawas“bonedry”.Known

as the Barka to its Traditional Owners, the river has supported the Barkandji people for

thousandsofgenerations.However,duetoover-extractionofwaterbyirrigationcompanies

and cotton growers upstream, the river no longer flows atWilcannia (Cattermole qtd. in

Norman).“AswecametounderstandfromBarkandjipeople,thecrisisontheBarwon-Darling

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representsthebiggestthreattotheircontinuedsurvivaloncountrysincethesheepinvaded,”

Normanstates.TheBarkaisconsideredtobetheBarkandji’smother.Withoutwater,they

arethreatenednotjustenvironmentally,butspiritually;thelifebloodoftheircultureisatrisk.

AsNormansopoignantlyemphasises,“theimpactofcolonisationcannotbemeasuredasa

moment,butratherasanenduringprocess”.Itisaprocesswhichisintrinsicallytiedupwith

ecologicalwellbeing.

Criticaltheoryofrecentdecadesidentifiesthewesternculturaltraditionofdualistic

thinkingasastartingpointforenvironmentalcatastropheandcolonialviolence(Rose19).

Descartes’mind/body formulation,which sets apart the human, enlightened rational self

fromthebodily,intuitiveandanimalsideofself,hasbeenhighlightedasfoundationaltoan

anthropologicphilosophyfavouringman/woman,culture/nature,mind/body,active/passive

andcivilisationoversavagery(Plumwood,“ActiveVoice”5).The“hierarchicalandoppressive

implicationoftheSelf/Otherconstruct”canbetracedallthewaybacktothebookofGenesis,

whichinstatesman’sdominationoverbeasts(AlizadehandPitt-Alizadeh53).LuceIrigaray

arguesthatthismatrixofdualitiesinrealitysignifiessingularity,sincethelabelled“other”is

conceivedofasabsence(qtd.inRose19).Itisaperceived“absence”ofinherentvaluewhich

has fuelled environmentally and culturally damaging practices for millennia, such as the

clearingofbiodiversewildlife,dispossessionoflandfromIndigenouspeoplesandfossilfuel

extraction.Thesepracticesinturnhaveculminatedinthispointofclimatecatastrophe.

At theheartof theclimatecrisis liesan imaginativeandcultural failure;asAmitav

GhoshstatesinhisseminalworkTheGreatDerangement:

thequestionsthatconfrontwritersandartiststodayarenotjustthoseofthepolitics

ofthecarboneconomy;manyofthemhavetodoalsowithourownpracticesandthe

waysinwhichtheymakeuscomplicitintheconcealmentsofthebroaderculture.(11)

Ghosh questions contemporary literary practices which feed patterns of consumerism or

whichpropagate imagesofprosperity,citingthederangementof favouringarchitecturally

shinyglassandmetalplated towersduringa timeofacceleratedanddangerous levelsof

carbonemissions(11).Hesuggeststhatculturalandliteraryartefactsfunctionregularlyas

modesof concealmentwhich refuse to recognise the realitiesofourplight. ForProfessor

Timothy Clark, the condition of emergence of the Anthropocene highlights a state of

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instability and uncertainty,wherein no precedent exists for the climate catastrophes and

global changes yet to occur (Threshold Concept, 47). For both critics, the Anthropocene

necessitates a “break in consciousness” and relinquishment of “faith in the regularity of

bourgeois life” (Clark, Threshold Concept 115; Ghosh 25). Previously seeming “mundane”

consumptionpracticesanddesiresforprosperitymustnowberereadforthedisadvantage

andpovertytheycauseforotherpeople,plant-life,animalsoraquatics.Intheecocriticalfield,

literarystudiesmustundergosimilarrevitalisationas,withretrospectiveenvironmentaland

postcolonial knowledge, we are required to reconsider the cultural and ecological

implicationsofliterarytextsboundupwithinanetworkofenvironmentalechoes.

Asanoff-shootof theecocritical field,ecopoeticsasa literary responsetocurrent

environmentalstrifeseekstoundertakethatecologicalquestofrevitalisingtheimagination.

Whatisrequiredandwhatissoughtintheecopoeticpracticeisamajoroverhaulof“how

individuals, societies, and cultures relate with each other and with the nonhumans and

materialswithwhomhumanssharetheplanet”(Magrane2).Thepracticehasevolvedoffthe

backofalongtraditionofnaturepoetry(Bryson3),fromthepastoralpoetsTheocritusand

Virgil,bothintimatelyawareofthepowerofnature,throughtheearlymodernandRomantic

periodsintheUnitedKingdom,andmorerecently inAustralia,aswatheofenvironmental

naturepoetsincludingJudithWrightandLesMurray.Itisnotthefirsttimeinmodernhistory

thatpoetsrecognisereciprocitywithinnatureandseektointeracthumblywiththenatural

world;what isuniqueistheemphasisontranslatingecologicalconsciousness intoawider

senseofcommunityandglobalaction(Bryson3).

The poetic form is particularly suited toward the invigoration of consciousness.

Becauseofthepoem’scapacityformanipulation,complexityinreferencesandallusionand

possibilityfortimedistortion,thepoeticform“createsconditionsfortheemergenceofnew

analogies,metaphorsandmodelsforunderstandingobjectsofinquiry”(BarrettandBolt7).

AsJoanRetallackdescribes,experimentallanguagecatapultsusawayfromthestatusquoof

contemporaryconsciousnesstowardunknownpossibilities(25).Thejuxtapositionsthatcan

happeninapoemmaydislocateandalterpatternsofthought,andmaybeinstrumentalto

thenecessary “break in consciousness” that actionwithin theAnthropocene era requires

(Magrane9;Clark,ThresholdConcept115).

At its core, ecopoetics seek to overturn “a suffering Romantic egoism” in nature

poetry,whichtraditionallyplacesmanatthefulcrumoftheuniverse,withnon-humanplants

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andanimalsasmereassistantstothehumanpsycheandgoals(Harrison126).Instead,the

practiceappealstotransformationsbasedonecologicalscienceand“anecocentricethicof

interconnectedness” (Gilchrest 2). Leonard Scigaj writes that “ecopoets distil ecological

processintoaesthetictechniquestorestoreourlostsenseofconnectednesstotheplanet

thatboreandsustainsus” (12).For renownedAustralianecopoet JohnKinsella,each text

writtenis“partofaresistanceagainstenvironmentaldamage”(StrahanandKinsella1),while

Australian environmental philosopherVal Plumwood emphasises the role of ecopoetry in

subverting hierarchical dualities between human and nature, and demonstrating nature’s

manyvalidandvaluedformsofintelligence(“ActiveVoice”9).Natureisnolongerregarded

asexploitablematerial.

Inreality,contemporaryecocriticalthinkingfoundedoninterconnectednessmimicsa

philosophicalunderpinningofanAboriginalrelationshiptolandwhichstatesthatlandislaw

andyouarenotaloneintheworld(Graham106).KombumerriandWakkaWakkawomanDr

MaryGrahamexplainsthepriorityoflandwithinanAboriginalworldview:

Theland,andhowwetreat it, iswhatdeterminesourhumanness.Becauselandis

sacredandmustbelookedafter,therelationsbetweenpeopleandlandbecomesthe

templateforsocietyandsocialrelations.Allmeaningcomesfromtheland.(106)

Further, Aboriginal philosophies include a kinship system that includes the naturalworld,

plants,animalsandotherphenomena.Grahamwrites:“ForAboriginalpeople,thelandisthe

greatteacher;itnotonlyteachesushowtorelatetoit,buttoeachother”(108).Poetssuch

asBillNeidjie inStoryAboutFeelingandAliCobbyEckermanninLittleBitLongTimehave

utilised the medium to explore and relate in part ecological and spiritual aspects of an

Aboriginalworldview.

Central to theecopoetic task is thepracticeof “place-making”,which attempts to

establishhumanconnectiontocountryandland,basedontheassumptionthat“themore

weviewtherestofourworldasplaceandhome,themorecarewewilltakenottodamage

it”(Bryson15–16).InAustralia,thisprovestobeadifficulttask,giventhatmanyofusare

living on stolen land that is also categorically “wounded space… that has been torn and

fracturedbyviolenceandexile”(Rose2).Oneoftheinitialstepstoplace-makingistowitness:

tolistenwithattentivenesstothedestructionofecologicalandculturalsystemsofthepast,

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as well the ongoing violence of the present. “It is a heightened listening, rich with

ambivalence,”SaskiaBeudalmuses(Beudal112).“Asmuchaswecan,wemustlistentothe

cry of the disappearing curlew across the water, to the drip and crash of melting ice,”

GretchenMilleradds(Miller327).Tolistenistoberesponsivetothevulnerabilityofliving

beingsandsystems,andimportantly,toconnect–totakeresponsibility(Rose47).

On place-making, Australian ecopoet and critic PeterMinter emphasises a shared

poeticsacrossgeographicalspace,inwhich“theimaginationdilatestoadmiteverything,from

allacrossthecontinent,thePacific,theIndian”.IntheintroductiontoAustralianecopoetic

journalPlumwoodMountain(August2016),heconfirms:

Everyone needs to take responsibility for imagining their own unique kind of

transformation. Inpoetryandpoetics,wehavetothinkabouthownon-Indigenous

form,westernform,romanticform,lyricalform,whiteformhavearesponsibilityto

currentandfutureculturalconditions.(Minter)

ThisdecolonialattituderesonateswithPlumwood’swarningthatasingularconceptofplace,

ratherthanmultiple,maybefalseinitsrefusaltorecognisethemany“shadowplacesthat

provideourmaterialandecologicalsupport,mostofwhich,inaglobalmarket,ourlikelyto

eludeourknowledgeandresponsibility”(“ShadowPlaces”139).Forplace-makingtobetruly

ecological,itneedstoextendacrossspaceandrecognisethemultipleplaceswhich,through

theuntidylinksofcommodificationandimperialism,weareconnectedtoandreliantupon.

Inthe2009issueofAngelakiJournaloftheTheoreticalHumanities,BlueMountains

poet Kate Fagan highlights the problem of applying Eurocentric thinking to an Australian

colonisedcountry,saying:“Weneedtobringanexplicitlypost-settlementcritiquetothinking

about ‘eco’ in theAustralian context” (Faganetal. 3).Alongside co-editorsof the journal

KinsellaandMinter,Faganemphasisesthe“philosophicalandcreativerisksthatareneeded”

in the face of global catastrophe (Fagan et al. 1). While for Kinsella, writing in the

Anthropocene remains a “delaying tactic” (2), Fagan insists that ecopoetics must

“denaturalise”nature;thatis,removetheboundarybetweenitandourhumanselves,“so

humanscantakeplaceincatastrophe,toactwithinit”(4).

ThequalityofdenaturalisingnaturecanbereadextensivelyinFagan’spoetry.Pam

BrowndescribesFagan’smostrecentcollectionFirstLight(2012)intermsofitsboundary-

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blurring undertaking, saying: “Many of [Fagan’s] poems are on a threshold or a brink of

crossing,andtheyarekindofconsciouslyoff-centre,asshethreadsandlinkslinesofthought

andfeeling”(Brown1).Asamusician,Fagan’sworkisusuallyreadforitsmusicalqualities,

althoughsomeattentionhasbeenpaidtoherrecyclingof languageinconsiderationof its

materialityandrelationalaspecttothenaturalenvironment(Turner;Hart).GabrielleDixon-

RitchiedescribesFagan’searliercollectionTheLongMomentasinvitingconfrontationwith

the“radicalunpredictability”of“climatologicalandgeologicalpredicaments”(Dixon-Ritchie

167).WhileLibbyHartemphasisesFagan’saffinitywithLanguagepoetry,inwhichlanguage

dictatesmeaning(Hart),Dixon-RitchiedescribesageophilosophicalaspectinFagan’swriting

whichmapsacrossboth linguisticandgeographicalspace,accordingtoGillesDeleuzeand

FélixGuattari’sassertionthat“thinkingtakesplace in therelationshipof territoryandthe

earth” (qtd. inDixon-Ritchie 162). Dixon-Ritchie reads Fagan as an eco-poet, however no

extendedanalysisofherworkasbeenconductedinanecopoeticalcontext,toconsiderthe

relationship between Fagan’s radical use of language and an ecocritical intention of

addressingclimatejustice.

ThisexegesisseekstoexploreFagan’sboundaryblendingpoetryinFirstLight,with

thegoalofdetermininghowaconsciouslyrelationalaestheticpositions thework inopen

dialoguewiththehumanandnon-humanworldsofitssurrounds,“sohumanscantakeplace

incatastrophe, toactwithin it” (Faganet al. 4). The collection is characterisedby rapidly

moving thought filtered throughexperimental formand lyric,andalternatesbetween the

personal and the social, with an emphasis on elements of the natural environment

encountered through bush, rural and urban settings. The collection resonates with a

philosophical quality which addresses issues of climate, creativity, literature, affect,

relationshipsandcolonialhistory.

This exegesis is based on an extended close analysis and refers to five of the six

sections present in the collection. “Observations on Time, Cargo”, “First Light”, “The

Correspondence” “Authentic Nature” and “Thought’s Kilometre” have been chosen as

referencechaptersforthecurrentanalyses.Theanalysesarearrangedbytopic,dividedinto

twochapters:“MakingPlace”and“ExpandingLanguage”.ThefirstchapterintroducesFagan’s

taskofplace-makingwhichisachievedthroughanengenderedethicsofinterconnectedness.

The second chapter examines the question of language’s culpability and capability in

affrontingthemanydifficultiesofclimatechangeanddecolonisationinFagan’scollection.

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Through examination of Fagan’s experimentation with concepts of

interconnectedness,perception, timeandscale,aswellasheruseof linguistic techniques

suchasrecyclingofmaterial,theuseofadiscourseofscience,explorationsofthemicroand

macroscopicandself-conscioussemanticexperimentation,theexegesiswilldeterminehow

Fagan’s musings on environment and language unsettle the bourgeois realities of the

Anthropocene era while witnessing its present and past violence and advocating for

consciousnessreformationthroughlinguisticexperimentation.“Iliketheideaofanunquiet

poetry,”Faganstates(Brown2).Herwork,whichlikelightisatoncedappled,changing,bright

andmuffled,refusestoconform“tothearchitecturesinwhichmodernitywasbuilt”,instead

alludingto“averydifferentkindofworld–stillthisworldhere,buttransformed”(Faganet

al. 1). Thequestion remainsas towhether thepoetry can informecological action in the

physicalworld.

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CHAPTER1:MAKINGPLACE

Place-makinginecocriticismhaslongbeenrecognisedasessentialworkforanethical

approachtoreconfiguringhumanity’spositionwithinthebiosphereoftheplanet.Whileearly

ecocriticismplaced emphasis on understanding “the immediate, specific place,wherewe

live”(KirkpatrickSaleqtd.inBate232),followingonfromthe“nomadology”ofGillesDeleuze

andFélixGuattari,inAustraliaStuartCookeproposedaformofplace-makingwhichthinks

beyondimmediateplacetoamorenomadictrajectory,“giventhatecosystemsflourishby

virtue of theirmyriad interconnectionswithotherplaces” (Cooke 230). This approach to

place-making resonates with Plumwood’s assertion that recovering a storied sense of

dwelling must include all those “shadow places” which provide ecological and material

supportforanyindividualorcommunity(“ShadowPlaces”139).

InFirstLight,Fagan’sapproachtoplace-makingreverberateswiththeknowledgeof

profound interconnectedness in nature, and across a globalised planet. This chapter will

explore Fagan’s approach to place through an ethics of interconnectedness perceived

through looking, experimentation with the representation of perception and time,

attentiveness to the non-human other and engagement with the technological and the

modern.Fagan’spoeticsworktorecovermeaningfulecologicalspaceonasimultaneously

minuteandmacroscopicscale.

1.1TOLOOK,TOSEE

InFirstLight,Fagan’sstrikingyetsubtlevisionofinterconnectednesspermeatesthe

entirety of the book, beginning with the opening line of the first poetic sequence,

“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”.Faganstates:“All Icanseeareweatherandits imitators”,

beforeadding,“Idecideuponfourthemes:tragedy,character,temporality,locus”(3).Fagan,

gazingoutatanalternatelyfire-ravagedandfloodedworld, isstruckfirstandforemostby

climate–bythemovementsofweather,of“snow”and“cold”,andbyasenseof“tragedy”

intimeandplace(3–4).Thisstatementintroducesweatherasanumbrellamotifofthebook,

andisthefirstinstanceofsensualinterconnectedness,whereinallbeings(“characters”)and

materialarecontainedwithintheuniversal,transientandever-changingsphereofclimate.

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The“imitators”oftheweathercycleswhichFaganmentionsarereflectedwithinthe

cosmicpatternsofthebiosphere,towhichthepoet’seyes“continuouslyturn”(6):

Todizziness

asthoughvisitingadream,

linesofhills,brocade

yokedtoabsoluterelatives. (6)

Here, the phrase “absolute relatives” highlights a double paradigmwhich Fagan seeks to

explorewithinthecollection.Firstly,itreferstoarelationalaesthetic,whereinallelements

of the human and non-human world are “yoked” to one another perceptively and

representedassuchwithinthepoetry.Thisisachievedthroughthepoet’svisualisationofa

rich fabric, a “brocade” consisting of all observations of things across space and time,

intimately interwoven. From “lines of hills” to “a dog’s geometric howl” and a “field of

apprehendedbirds”(8),cosmicpatternsinnaturereverberatethroughout“Observationson

Time,Cargo”.Secondly,thephrase“absoluterelatives”referstoaperceivedabsoluteness

whichFagandescribesasinherenttovisionwithinanysubject.Thingsappearasabsoluteto

theindividualmind.Shewrites:

Hereisascene

madeimpossibleinrelativeterms–

onlywhatwesee– (4)

Here,Fagandescribesanobservedscenewhich,contrarytohervisionofrelativity, isnow

madeimpossibleinrelativeterms–butonlyinwhatwesee.Faganemphasisesthatitisthe

way that we look which allows us to see or not see an inherent interconnectedness. As

“Observations”makesapparent,thiscollectionisaboutwaysofseeing:aboutperceptionand

“apparition[s]”…“happeninginthehalf-light”(4),andabouthow,withacertaintiltofthe

head,onemayunderstandtheabsoluterelativity–thatcheekyoxymoron–withinwhichall

elements exist seemingly inperfectwholeness, and yet, impossibly, in relation to all. The

paradoxicalqualityoftheactoflookingisemphasisedthroughaseriesofoxymorons,utilised

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bythepoettodescribetheactofseeing:

Itbecameataskofmanyintervals:onepublic,

oneconfined,oneyawning

asahighway. (6)

Theseapparentlycontradictoryterms–thepublicandtheconfined,thewideopenyawning

andthefar-reachingyetconfinedhighway–createapushandpulleffectinperceptionwhich

mimicstheebbandflowoftheocean,toprimarilyestablishthatsenseofswellingrelativity

whichrevealsitselfthroughtheactoflooking.Linesofconnectionappearbetweenthepublic

andinteriorworlds,throughtiredexpanseandnarrowedhaste.Throughoutthecollection,

Faganworkstowardadissolutionofthatinitialperceivedabsoluteness,whereallthingsmeld

indynamicinterconnectednesswithinaworldof“weather…tragedy,character,temporality

andlocus”(3).

1.2LIGHT,TIMEANDSCALE

It isnocoincidencethatthebook istitledFirstLight,giventhat it isaboutwaysof

seeing and connectedness. Light, like interconnectedness, filters its way throughout the

poems,asFagangazesuponhersurroundings.“Shadowfacts”aremadeapparentand“red

light” offers up “ways of relating with clouds” (4, 15). Light is associated with renewed

perceptionandanincreasedconnectivitytoallentities.

Thisistrueofthecento“FirstLight”,thefirstinaseriesofpoemswhichrecyclepast

textstoofferupnewimaginings(15).“We’vebeenlivingIthink/inakindofdrowninglight,”

Fagan admits, before arriving surprisingly at “a kind of punctuation”, wherein her

consciousnessisreinvigoratedbyalllight’svariations–sapphire,solar,ordinary–asif“this

being’s old light carries/ thewholeworld of present activities”. The tone of this piece is

conversationalandplayful,withthepoetexperimentingwithauralsounds:“humhumhum

aum hum hum./ Well it’s neither red nor reflected light”. The humming sound works

performatively,asFaganclownsinherconsiderationoflight,sparkingtheimaginationtotoy

withthesubstanceinall itsvariousmodes.“Hecontinuesthrowingrosesintothegarden/

untilhemisses.Hethrowsthewhiteroses,/hemisses.,”Faganwrites.Thereisanelementof

15

surrealism in this imagery,which satirises a senseof randomness in poetry, toultimately

emphasiseadecidedcreativecontrol.“Letmechoose,”Faganinsists,therebydecidingona

significanceinhergameswithlight.Returningto“ObservationsofTime,Cargo”,weseethat

light in itsvariousandrecycledforms– justas intherecycledformofthecentos– is the

permeatingsubstancewhichallowstheconsciousnesstoseeagain:

Iopenedmyeyesandwipedoutsoot,

droveasidestars,

allmysightforgiventhere. (6)

Fagan’slight-filledvisionisinherentlyconnectedtothe“soot”ofearth,andtheskyabove.

Herbeing is relational toher cosmic surrounds. In clearing the “soot” fromhereyes, she

attemptstoperceivetheworldfromadecentralisedperspective–nolongertiedtoimminent

place–butoneinwhichtimeandspacemeldinfluidity.

Thisdecentralisedperspective isdevelopedwithin“Thought’sKilometre”, the final

poeminthefinalsequence(ofthesamename)oftheentirebook,whichworksasakindof

punctuationtothecollection.Thetoneofvoicein“Thought’sKilometre”variesquiteradically

tothejovial,playfulmoodof“FirstLight”.Itisdreamy,meldedandcontemplativeinitsfluid

descriptionsoftimeandspace:

Bluetimecontinues,placementinsensualflux

Weinsistuponintervalsthatgivestillnesstodispersalandwatch

therunningwindowasitcatchestheexactturnofan

afternoon

…

Spaceiscloudingoverandwefallin (81)

Inthisstanza,Faganportraysthesensualityof“running”space-timewhich,althoughwemay

“insistuponintervals”,isactuallyshiftingandmelding.Fagan’sdecentralisedperspective,no

longertiedtothehistoricalWesternhuman,viewstimeandspaceasimmeasurableandfluid.

Theroleoflanguageanditsinabilitytoeffectivelydemarcatethingsacrossspaceandtime

will be explored in the second chapter “Expanding Language”, as will the significance of

16

languageintherecycledcentos;fornow,itisenoughtodescribeFagan’sworkindestabilising

temporal and spatial structure through experimentationwith time, scale and perception.

Thesetechniquesworktodeconstructlinearityandbringseeminglydistantpointstogether,

inordertoperceive“thisworldofgeometryandtruth”anew(71).In“ObservationsonTime,

Cargo”,Faganwrites:

Aworldgathers

atthebeach,spraysuckedonshore

incolumnsofchalk. (10)

Her perception of an entire world gathered at the beach is an example of macroscopic

manipulation,whereininanygivenspace,observationsofpatternsofsciencearemade(in

“columns”),whichenhanceasenseofproliferation,ofbothspeciesandmaterialsubstance

oftheearth.Thestatement“repetitionshowsitseveningtaskinbirdcalls”defiesmundanity

intheworld(8),insteaddemonstratingitseternalcyclicalnature,whilelinkingonemoment

ofbirdsongtotherepetitiousandgeometricbrocadeofthebiosphere.

Utilisinga languageofscienceandmathematicsenhancesFagan’scosmicvisionof

interconnectedness,whereinbeingsaredoubledandredoubled,nolonger“isolatedinlow

gravity” (9) but relativewithin a “field of apprehended birds,motion’s curve/ stalked by

ordinary fractions” (10). Here, Fagan implicitly recognises the mathematical sequence

inherenttoall life:theFibonaccispiral,amathematicalsequencewhichisfoundationalto

growth patterns in almost all elements of nature, and therefore art. Each number of the

sequenceisthesumofthetwonumberswhichprecedeit.Becauseitislogarithmic,visually

thesequenceappearsasa“curve”orspiral(10).Inthispoeticmoment,themovementand

arrangementofthebirdsisdeterminedbymaths,andmovewithinarelativespiral. It isa

beautiful imagining, inwhich Fagan creates an imageof theworld in space-timewhich is

sequential,flourishingandconnectedbylinesofrelativitybetweenallthings.

Themathematical visionof connectedspace-timecanbe likened toMichelSerres’

theory of folded time, wherein time is multiple and folded, like a handkerchief: “The

handkerchiefisfolded,crumpled,shredded.Time…resemblesthiscrumpledversionmuch

morethantheflat,overlysimplifiedone”(SerresandLatour60).“Timeisabeamexpanding

inphase,”Faganwrites,andwithinthatperceivedlight,whichshinesfromhervision,Fagan

17

illuminatesthefabricofearth,destabilisinglinearityinspaceandtimewhileunderminingany

singularanthropocentricsubjectivityorabsolutenessinbeings(11).

Fagan’svisionissimilartoMinter’stheoryonplace-makinginwhich“theimagination

dilates to admit everything” within its own “unique transformation” with greater

“responsibility to currentand future cultural conditions”.Asanalternative to linear time,

decolonialthinkingadvocatesforrecuperativeworkinimaginingalltimeasaccessible(Rose

25).Rosearguesforaconceptofenduringtime,inwhichcontinuityisexpressedbetween

pastandfuture,therebyacknowledgingtheongoingeffectsofviolenceinthepresentandits

reverberationsbacktothepast.AboriginalconceptsoftimehavegreatlyinfluencedRose’s

writings.Fagan,too,hasexpressedtheneedforincorporatingIndigenousperspectiveswithin

current ecocritical traditions. In the 2009 issue of Angelaki Journal of the Theoretical

Humanities,shestates:

I’msuspicious,forexample,oftheuncriticalleveringofecopoeticalthinkingaround

theworkofHeidegger.What’s the real trajectoryof tropesof thedomestic Euro-

forestwhenconfrontedbyAustraliancolonisedcountry?(Faganetal.3)

FaganiswaryofapplyinganentirelyEuropeanecopoeticframeworktoworkscomposedon

stolen land, and on land which reverberates with its own cultural stories of

interconnectednessinplace.Herpoeticsofinterconnectednesscanthusbereadinrelation

toage-oldAboriginalconceptsoftimeandspace,whicharefoundationaltothesustainable

maintenanceofCountryandhavebeensofortensofthousandsofyears.

BillNeidjie,Gagadjupoet,isoneexampleofanAboriginalthinkerandstory-tellerwho

perpetuatedthroughouthis lifetimeanethicsof interconnectedness,betweenhumanand

animal,plant,sky,divinityandsoil.InNeidjie’sextraordinarytextStoryAboutFeeling,notions

of temporal linearity and separateness do not exist. Rather, the Indigenous body runs

vibrantlywiththestuffoftheuniverse:

Tree,grass,star…

becausestarandtreeworkingwithyou.

Wegotbloodpressure

butsamething…spiritonyourbody,

18

buteworkingwithyou.

Evennicewindeblow…havingasleep…

becausethatspiritewithyou (2)

ThetextinpartrelayssomeofthecomplexitiesofAboriginalecologicalthinking,inrelation

tointerconnectednessbetweenelementsofweather,creaturesandtime.ForNeidjie,timeis

atonceceaselessinitsflow,yetalwaysstill,compressedtoasinglepoint:

Treeefollowyou’n’me,

e’llbedeadbehindusbutnextonee’llcome.

Samepeople.Aboriginesame.

We’llbedeadbutnextone,kid,e’llbeborn.

Samethistree. (4)

Timeappearscyclical,orhardlymovingatall,andthereisfluiditybetweenthespiritsofall

beings. In riling against “Eurocentric” perspectives (Fagan et al.3), Fagan recognises the

vitalityandcentralityof Indigenousknowledges in the formationof supposedly“modern”

ecologicalthinking.ToreadhertextoncolonialsoilsistoreaditagainstanAboriginalcultural

historyandknowledgecentre,whichmustbereturnedtoagainandagain,ifpositiveglobal

ecologicalchangeistooccur.

1.3THENON-HUMANOTHER

Theworldofweatheris“whereallspeciesperformtheirearth-making”(Magraneet

al.3),andFagan’spoetryattendstothis,movingasitdoestotouchconsciousnesswiththose

non-humanbeings,embeddedand livingwithin thecycles, integratedwithinoneaffected

sphere, and observedwithattentiveness. InReports from aWild Country, anthropologist

DeborahBirdRosemaintainsthatattentivenessisthefirststeptoethicalinvolvementwith

theworld,byacknowledgingothers’claimsofexperience,especiallyifrelatedtoviolence,in

the on-going quest toward decolonisation (30). For Rose, an attitude of attentiveness

actualisesempatheticconnectionbetweenbeings,throughlistening.

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ThroughoutFagan’scollection,herconsciousnesspassesbetweenandistouchedby

manybeings,otherthanhumans.Theseinclude“abirdflyingnorthandnorth-west”(27),a

“meteor”whichfallsandrises“likeathought”(31),fightingcats(27),“seabirds”(63)anda

“white-belliedeagle”(65),an“isolatedtree”(34),a“catlandingafish”(66),aswamphen

(67),“twomagpies fallen/ fromanest” (73),“awildbird,anowlwith/ letteredmarkings,

smallfalconswhosewingsrowbesiderust/underbellies”(92)and“alappingdog”(93).These

beings are diverse, intimately observed andwrittenwith an appreciation of their unique

awarenessandautonomy.Theyareappreciatedwithinmomentsofreciprocity,describedby

AmitavGhoshinTheGreatDerangementas“amomentofmutualrecognition…yourealise

thatthispresencepossessesasimilarawarenessofyou,eventhoughitisnothuman”(29).

ThisistrueofFagan,whowritesin“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”:

Animalswardoffisolation,

sirens,insects

disturbedbyterritorialacts. (11)

InanerawhichhasbeendescribedbybiologistEOWilsonastheEremocene–the“ageof

loneliness”–(adesignationwhichdrawsattention“totheprospectofafutureinwhichwe

haveextinguishedsomanyoftheEarth’slifeformsthatwefindourselvesbereftofmostnon-

humancompanions” (Muiretal.6)), Fagandisplaysawelcomeaffinityandconnection to

thosenon-humanbeings,whichforher,providefamiliarcompany.

Oneofthesebeings,thehoneyeaterbird,appearsinthelatersequence“Authentic

Nature”,withinthepoem“Workman,Honeyeater”(62).“AuthenticNature”isthefifthand

penultimatesequenceofthebook,whichencouragesustoconsiderhowitiswerelatewith

the environmentalworld, and theunavoidable aspects of colonial history and technology

whichmediateourrelationshiptonature.Atitscore,thesequencepersistentlyquestionsany

notion of authenticity in nature. In “Workman, Honeyeater”, Fagan describes the bird as

skipping “along a thousand leaves like arrows, closer to truth than I could hazard” (62).

Perceiving truthfulnesswithin the so-callednaturalworldmaintainsechoesof a romantic

lyricismwhichFaganoccasionallyrelishesin,andwhichcriticDavidMcCooeycallsanattitude

of“therealasnature”(McCooey57).Faganwritesincelebrationofthelivelyhoney-eater,

whose“helmetofsleekfeathersshook/inthelongfluidrain”(62).It’samomentofdelighted

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appreciationofthebirdanditsentanglementwiththeelements,asithopsalongtheroofof

thehouse.

She thenproceeds to compare the scene to another imaginedbyObjectivist poet

GeorgeOppen,whofavouredinliteraturetheaestheticqualityofthebuilt:

Theseeaves

saynothingofOppen’sculture

offitting:quietlytherooflies

thatthecarpenterhasfinished.(62)

Fagan’svisionofthehouseisoneinwhichthereisno“quiet”separationbetweenthebuilt

andthenaturalenvironment;rather,thehoneyeater,thelong,fluidrainandthethousand

leavesareallintegratedandinteractingwiththebuiltroofofthehouse,whichis“chambered

andchiselled/ to the roughdesignsof theheart” (62).Thepoem isa revelryonacertain

Australian relationship to place – as opposed, perhaps, to Oppen’s cleaner, more

Americanisedone–inwhichthesurroundingenvironmentisintrinsictothewell-beingofthe

ramshacklehome.Fagan ispleasedby themovement, freedomandeaseobserved in the

honeyeateras it “chitterscoldsanddarts/ carries theday in itswake” (62), entwining the

naturalwiththebuilt.Themomentsubvertsanynotionofseparatenature.

Readingthispoem,itisimpossiblenottorecallGerardManleyHopkins’1918piece,

“TheWindhover”:

Icaughtthismorningmorning'sminion,king-

domofdaylight'sdauphin,dapple-dawn-drawnFalcon,inhisriding

Oftherollinglevelunderneathhimsteadyair,andstriding

Highthere,howherunguponthereinofawimplingwing

Inhisecstasy!thenoff,offforthonswing (1166)

CriticBrianWillemsdescribeshowJesuitpriestHopkinscoinedthewordinscapetorepresent

“theindividualityofobjectsofperception,theessenceofwhatmakesonethingthisthing

andnoother”(3).WillemshasdrawnnumeroussimilaritiesbetweenHopkins’appreciation

21

of“thingness”inallbeings,andMartinHeidegger’stheoryoftheindividualityofallentities,

whichmaintainsthattheyremainthemselves“whetherwerepresentitinourmindsornot”

(Heidegger 165). What he doesn’t take into account is the striking movement of the

windhover, and that its thingness seemingly disperses through its immense energy and

movement.

In “Workman, Honeyeater”, Fagan resonates most strongly with the energy and

movement of the bird, delighted at its flurry and fervour as it skips along the air.While

Hopkins and Heidegger celebrate a purist autonomy in beings, they are seemingly less

concernedwithalargerecologicalperspective.Fagan,inherecstaticappreciationofthebird

and its integration with the built environment, critically levers Heidegger’s vision of

autonomy-in-thingness, instead viewing its existence as eternally relational. The idea is

furtheredin“LetterX:OnTruth”,apoemfromthesequenceofverselettersentitled“The

Correspondence”(Fagan25).Faganwrites:“things/shrugofftheirnamestobecome/more

fullythemselves”(37).Here,non-human-beingsarecelebratedmostfullyoncefreedfrom

theshacklesofhumanlanguage.Fagan’svisionofthenon-humanworldisthusfoundedon

an attentive and empathetic recognition of the non-human other which exists fluidly in

interconnectedness,andwhichispronetolimitationbyacertainrelationshipwithlanguage.

Aswewill see in chapter two, however, poetic exploration of the non-humanworld can

converselyworktoenlivenarelationalexpansivenessbetweenhumanandtheenvironment.

The idea of inherent interconnectedness between all beings is further evident in

“ThroughaGlassLightly”,oneofFagan’scentopoemsfromthesequence“FirstLight”(23),

inwhichshedrawsattentiontochangeabilityintheworld.Shewrites:“Thenasturtiumisto

itself already/ a memory” (23). This observation reckons with biological mutability, an

observablephenomenonwithinthecellsofallorganicbeings(LyndaBirkeqtd.inAlaimo5);

Cells“constantlyrenewthemselves,”bone“isalwaysremodelling,”and“bodilyinteriors…

constantlyreacttochangeinsideorout,andactupontheworld”.Inthiscase,thenasturtium

istoitselfNOTaself–atanygivenmoment,ithasaltered,anunfixedentity.Fagansees“a

livingfretwork”echoingthroughallbeings,intheirmutability,butalsotheirconnectedness

toallmatter,allthought,andallfeelings(23).Thenatureofthenasturtiumisreflectedinthe

humanlovewhichFagandescribesassimilarlysituated“inthefutureofcellsdividing”(23).

There is demonstration here of a reciprocity and oneness between evolving nature and

humanlivedthoughtandfeelings.“Iamredistributed,”Faganwritesinthecento“Luminous”

22

(19),anditisthisreverberatingintelligencewhichoccursbothintheaffectiveexperienceof

loveandthecontemplationofaweb-likenature.

As an addendum to Fagan’s considerationof non-humanbeings,wewill return to

“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”andFagan’sscrutinyof“insects/disturbedbyterritorialacts”

(11).Here,FaganappliestheproblemofcolonisationtothewiderAustralianenvironment

andthenon-humanother,recognisingtheplightofthosecreaturesatthewhimofhuman

imperialisticpractices,whether itbehabitatdissectionormisguided species introduction,

commonly undertaken for anthropocentric gains. In Ecocriticism on the Edge: The

AnthropoceneAsaThresholdConcept,TimothyClarkarguesthat“whatbecomesespecially

visible in thisAustraliancontext is theneedtoreadcolonizationasan interspeciesaffair”

(Clark123).Faganhasrecognisedthis,ultimatelyviewingecologicaldestructionasanagent

ofcolonisation.Fagan’sattentivenesstotheinsectworldthusdemonstrateswhatRosecalls

ecological“commitment”tounderstandingthecolonialprobleminthenon-humanother.Her

attentiontoallcreaturesandtheirvariedandsharedformsofintelligencedeepensherwork

inplace-making,asshewitnessesacrossthemicroscopic,andthemacro,withinaweb-like

visionofinterconnectednessinwhichallelementsdissolvetooneanother.

1.4THETECHNOLOGICALANDTHEMODERN

In the ecocritical trajectory, Clark identifies a school of thought in which

connectednessisperceivednotonlybetweenhumanandnon-humanbeings,butbetween

environment and technology, nature and culture, the ancient and themodern (Threshold

Concept57). StacyAlaimo furthers the ideawithinher conceptof “trans-corporeality”, in

which “the human is always intermeshed with the more-than-human word” (Alamo 2).

Alaimo thinks across bodies to acknowledge “the often unpredictable and always

interconnectedactionsofenvironmental systems, toxicsubstances,andbiologicalbodies”

(3).AsinDonnaHaraway’searliercoinage“natureculture”,thefalsityofseparatingnature

from culture is emphasised (Haraway qtd. in Clark, Literature and the Environment 161).

Instead,humancultureisvisiblyperceivedas“alwayspartofthenaturalsystemsofenergy

exchangeinthebiosphere”(Clark,LiteratureandtheEnvironment57).

Intermsofmakingplace,Faganpartakes inactiveacknowledgementofbiospheric

connectednessbetweenbeingswhichtraces,forexample,pathwaysoftoxinsbetweenour

23

activitiesandourownbodies.Theresultisamorenuanceddepictionoftheworldandour

rolewithinit.This isparticularlyevident in“TheOctetRule”(59).Asthefirstpoeminthe

sequence“AuthenticNature”,thepoemhasbeenimbuedwithaweightyandironicintention,

ofaddressingnatureauthentically.Thetitleofthepoempositionsitwithinarigid,scientific

network; “The Octet Rule” alludes to a chemical rule in which an atom containing eight

electronsinitsoutermostshellisatitsmoststablestate.Thisruledefinestheformofthe

poem,whichismadeupofeightsectionsofeightlines,withbyandlargeeightbeatsineach

line,suchasin“Enginesroar,bodyelectric”,orascloseaspossibletoachievingeightbeats,

suchasin“Sayhellotothesupermarket”(60).Thestructureofthepiecethusmimicsthat

chemical attemptatpeak stability,withanestablished intention toenvisionnature to its

atomicstructuralintegrity,depictedaccordingtoruleandaccordingtowhatwemightexpect

“authentically”innature.

Butwhatisauthenticnature?Fromtheopeninglineofthepoem,Faganundermines

anyruleofstructuralintegrityandcontainment.Shewrites:“Youbuiltahouse&refused/to

furnish it” (59). The structureof thehouse–or,metaphorically, thepoem itself, and the

notionofwhatnatureis–isshownimmediatelytobeempty.Relinquishinganynotionofthe

picturesqueinnature,thepoemisinsteadrepletewithreferencestomachines,iPhones,Cash

Convertersandthedrycleaner.Theonlyreferencestotraditional“nature”–thephysicality

ofthelanditself–arethe“leavesoutside”,whichareaccompaniedby“enginesroar”,and

the“brominehills”whichthespeakerscales“iPhoneinhand”(60–61).Closejuxtaposition

of these supposedly opposing elements ofmachinery and environment intrinsically binds

them,indicatingacrystallinebeliefonFagan’spart:thatthereisnoseparationbetweenthe

human,technologicalworldandtheleavesandgrassesofnature.

ThevisionisinaccordancewithastatementmadebyFaganintheintroductiontothe

eco-journalEcopoeticsandPedagogies(2009),inwhichsheinsists:“Whenecopoeticsstands

outsideofanaturethatisconstructedaccordingtohuman-centricprinciples,afailureofscale

andrealityoccurs”(Faganetal.4).Faganindicatesthatnaturemustbedenaturalisedsothat

humans can act within – and not outside of – catastrophe. In “The Octet Rule”, Fagan

demystifiesnaturebyrevealingthehumanelementatplayandinconstantaltercationwith

it.“Stilllifewithturnips./MykingdomforaPorsche!”shelaughs(61).“Whereareyou,sweet

muse/oftheexperthorizon?”shedemands,beforediscoveringanotefromthedrycleaner,

clippedintoherbag:“toughluck”(61).Thiscontemporarypoeticsquestionsstereotypesof

24

thepoeticandartisticprocesswithironicflair,denyingseriousnessfromastilllifeaswellas

atraditionalmuse,therebyunderminingaRomanticsensibilitytowardnature.Instead,Fagan

celebrates the unglorified version which remains inseparable from the modern, the

technological,andthebanal.

Faganfurthersherdepictionoftechnologyinnaturebyengenderinganethicalshift

in place-making, through examinationof human causal pathways. Fagan reconceptualises

subjectivitytodemonstratehowouractionscontributetoenvironmentaldegradationofour

surroundingsandourownbodies.The“bromine”hillsthatFaganroamswithinthetextrefer

toafire-ravagedareawhichhaspreviouslybeencoatedinfireretardant(61).Fireretardant

is a substance primarily composed of the chemical element bromine.When utilised, the

substanceyieldsfreebromineatomsandisaknowncontributortoozonedepletion.Situated

intheageofextremeweathereffects,theearthhasbeenmademorepronetofire,resulting

in human usage of a substance which in turn causes ozone depletion and even greater

extreme weather effects. In one simple image, Fagan thus highlights a circular system

betweenouractionsandthecatastrophiceffectsofclimatechange.Tracingatoxicsubstance

from production to consumption reveals global networks of social injustice and

environmentaldegradation,whichFaganimpliesshouldbenotedandpossiblyactedupon.

It’s a call to responsibilitywhich furthersherquest “tounmakealienation… to re-

perceivetheintimateconnectionsbetweentheminuteandtheimmense”acrossallmaterials

(Croggon 1). Fagan’s recuperative work is furthered across space and time, as she links

modernenvironmentalrelationswithAustralia’scolonialbeginnings.“Fancycollarsstrutlike

scenery,”shewrites,likeninghumansinaninstanttothepeacocksofacolonialgarden,while

directing the reader to abruptly consider how these suited people ended up there (60).

Fagan’s eco-poetry incorporates the colonial question of domination and establishment

throughuncannyobservationoftheabsurditiesofmodernsettlerculture.Herexperimental

techniqueofsplicingunrelatedimagerycreatesasenseofmirage,andconfounding:

Youcouldtrydoubleblinds,

upsizescreens,thematchlesszest

oflimecurtains. (59)

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This senseof confounding–or, thehidden– is heightened through incorporationof pop

culture references (“ThemeBelvedere”,whose lyricsdescribea change in the statusquo)

alongside visceral imagery of jarring contemporary Australian human relations (“his shirt

riding too high/ her burning sober neckline”) (59). “Grates/ doesn’t it,” Fagan demands,

highlightingthequicknessandferocityofmodernculturewhichhasobscuredanuntouched

past. Fagan thusmimics thecompetingelementsof contemporaryculturewhile implicitly

remembering – beyond the lime curtains – “the question of Australia, and recognises

beginnings(includingcolonialones)asphantasmalimmaculateconceptions,intruthvexed

andmessy”(Dixon-Ritchie154).

Inthefinalstanzaofthepoem,Faganadmits:“Theoctetruledoesnotapply”(61).

Thisstatement is indicativeofrelinquishmentoftherigidruleofauthenticity, infavourof

delvingintotheobscure,unravellingthecurrentsofthepastandunveilinganaturethatis

bothirrevocablylinkedtoouractionsintechnology,andtoourcolonialinheritance.“Ifind

trueauthorityunbearable,”Faganinsists(60),furthersabotagingcertain“relationsofpower

that inform the everyday” (Brown 2). The over-arching desire for subversion of societal

narrativesin“TheOctetRule”willbeexploredfurtherinthesecondchapteroftheexegesis.

Fagan’sresistancetoauthoritywillbeunpackedinregardstorecycledlanguageandlinearity,

as she furthers her rebellion against the hidden while advocating for an experimental

languagewhichworkstowardconsciousnessexpansion.

The strange and blinded enactment of harmful practices toward environment or

colonisedpeoples in theAgeof theAnthropocenecanbeviewedasa condition inwhich

humans,drasticallyawareoftheinadequacyoftheirlifestylesforglobalhealth,nevertheless

continuetoenactthemwithoutanyviablealternatives.Ghoshreferstothisconfusingstate

ofhumanityasthe“greatderangement”(10–11),inwhichculturaldesiresconcealourown

complicityinenvironmentalharm.Butthereishope;Ghoshfindspossibleresolutionthrough

renewed consciousness-formation, enabled by a creative practice of writing. As

environmentalpoetJudithWrightdescribes,theprimaryecopoeticconcernis“tostepover

thepositionofthesubjectandareductiveformofsubjectivity”(Wrightqtd.inCooke131).

ThefollowingchapterwillexplorehowFagan’sstylisticchoicesandlanguagemanipulation

worktoalterhumanconsciousness,subvertauthorityandresistinevitablepathstoclimate

destruction.Story-tellingandpoeticsemergetobeonepathwaytowardrevitalisationofthe

humanplaceonaglobalisedplanet.

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CHAPTER2:EXPANDINGLANGUAGE

In “Letter I”, the first poem in sequence “The Correspondence” (27), Fagan asks:

“What is the use of poets/ in a bereft time?” The question, posited in epistolary form,

asksthereadertoconsiderthepotentialofthepoetictextinrelationtocontemporarysocial

andpoliticalissueswithintheecologicalsphere.Textually,thequestionisactuallypreceded

by itsownanswer; inFagan’sownwords,penned immediatelyprior,“conceptssparkand

crack/wherevisionpauses” (27).Theuseofpoetry inabereft time is that itextendsour

awarenessbeyonddeprivation,throughlinguisticvitality,rawexperimentalismandstriking

affect.Poetryresonatesoutwardfromaplaceofcrisistoinvigorateourimaginationandallow

ustoexperienceinanewwaythesubtletiesoftheworld.

The question of the bearing of poetics nevertheless resonates throughout Fagan’s

collectionFirstLight,asshespeculates,adjustsandexperimentswithlanguageinanattempt

toigniteconsciousnesstothinkaboveandbeyondthestatusquoofcontemporaryliving.To

Fagan,itseemsthattheexperimentalcapacityofpoetrymaydislocatebourgeoispatternsof

thought, and may also be instrumental to the necessary “engagement with speculative

futures” that actionwithin the Anthropocene era requires (Magrane 4). This chapterwill

exploreFagan’sapproachtolanguagethroughexplorationofthelinksbetweenlanguageand

meaning-making,languageandcolonialism,languageandlandandlanguageforsubversion

andhealing.Whilesceptical towardthecolonial inheritanceof language,ultimatelyFagan

placeshopein“invention”(97),asasiteofhumanvitalityincreation,andasamethodof

workingtowardrenewedconsciousnessandsocietalchangeforgreaterecologicalwellbeing.

2.1INSCRIPTIONTORECALLAWAY

First Light is structured in six sections, with the first sequence of the collection,

“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”actingasanintroductorypiecetothefollowingsequences.

While“MakingPlace”discussedFagan’sintroductiontowaysofseeingin“Observationson

Time,Cargo”,thissectionof“ExpandingLanguage”willdiscussFagan’sintroductiontoways

ofrepresentationin“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”.

27

In the firstpoemof the sequence “All I can seeareweatherand its imitators” (3), Fagan

establishesalineofrelationbetweentheactofseeing,andtheactofwriting,toeventually

highlighthowtheconstructionofselfisinformedbyhowwerepresenttheexternalworldin

language.

Thingsandappearancesaremoving,

positivefreightlinesup

inletters.

Inscriptionwillrecallaway

bentasapolishedtoothtoward

objectsofsense. (3)

Here,Faganevokesasenseofsubjectivityinperception,astheexternalworldof“thingsand

appearances”appearstotheinternalgaze,tothenpassontothepage,intheformofwritten

“letters”.Emphasisonperceivedmovementintheoutsideworldevokesasenseoffluidity,

spaciousnessandboundlessnessintemporalspacewhichispresentthroughouttheentirety

ofthebookandwhichmakesitselfmoreapparentwheneverFaganispositionedcloselyto

nature, suchas in themuch laterpoem“AuthenticNature”,whereinFagandescribes the

“vaultedsky/wheresungivesshapetolimbs”(71).Thissenseofgeometricboundlessnessis

emphasised in “Observations on Time, Cargo”, through the images of “lines of hills”,

“polychromerocks”andthe“fieldofapprehendedbirds”(8–10).Asdescribedinchapter

one,theseimagesportrayafractalrelationofinterconnectednessinvastandechoingspace.

Nevertheless,Faganstrivestorelaythatspaciouslandscapethroughwriting,where“letters”

and“inscription”worktorepresentthefluidexternalworldontopaper(3).

Thelineofconnectionbetweensightandrepresentationinlanguageisemphasisedin

this opening sequence through use of a language of trade.Words such as “freight” and

“cargo” act to symbolically transport the external world into inscription (3). Fagan’s

declarationthat“inscriptionwillrecallaway”identifiesanintentioninherpoetictext,First

Light:towritetoward“sense”,thatis,knowledgeorwaysofunderstanding(3).InFagan’s

representation,thiswaymaynotbeclearandstraightlikeahighway,butinsteadbe“bent”

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likea“polishedtooth”(3).Here,thebendinessoftheproposedpathtosenserecallsJacques

Derrida’semphasisin“Plato’sPharmacy”ontheecstatic,malleableandwindingprocessof

writing as play. In Derrida’s conception, infinitely transformative and self-creating truths

withinlanguagearerevealedthrougha“forceofplay”inwriting(Derrida65).The“polished

tooth”ofFagan’svisioninducesthatsenseofmagic inplay,withthetoothinvokingsome

kindofmysticassociationwithtoothfairies,maturationandwisdom.

In“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”,Fagan’swritingproceeds to relishunabatedly in

playfulnessinlanguagewhichskirts“the‘brightobvious’still-houseofspeech”(5).Insteadof

stasis,thewrittenwordmeandersontheedgesofperceptibility; imagesappearalways in

liminality, in half-darkness anduncertain,moving, shifting. “Awareness comes inmaterial

shades,”Faganwrites(7),andthat’scertainlytrueasherworkrevealsitselfinstages,witha

gradual feeling “like a long series of cabins” (6). There is emphasis on depth in space or

“gravity”(9),andofeyesmovingtodiscovery,to“see,redouble–/Thissecondoranother–”

–tomakeuslookagain(10).Whilethisopeningsequenceistantalisinginitsmeandering,

half-litquality,simultaneously it isdrivenbyanundercurrentofmovementestablishedby

inscription recalling a way. The directional movement is encouraged by Fagan’s rolling

introductionofimageryshiftingusfromonealluringmomenttoanother“asthoughvisiting

adream”(6).Readingherpoems,we“skipfromadog’sgeometrichowl/tointimaciesbawled

below”(8),insearchoftheenticing“peaches/tiedintherichestwindows”(5).Theseimages

flitattheedgesofourconsciousnessaswesmoothlytravelbetweenthem.Theycontribute

toafeelingoffluidityalsoinTime–“abeamexpandinginphase”–whichseemsfullwiththe

possibilityofunboundedhumanconsciousness(11).

Driven toexploreand to relate to theworld sensually,whatbecomesapparent in

“ObservationsonTime,Cargo”isthatwritingandideasflourishwherevisionpauses,toshoot

forthintofruitfulness.AsFaganwrites:“Anewmorningissteadycargo.Stillblankocean”(9).

Anewmorning,blanklikeapage,containsmultitudesandpossibledepthsofmeaningand

diversity,readytoberevealedlikethefullestpeaches.

Howsimplywordscluster,

loveanddeath,maroonresolve

foldingtoapage. (7)

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Here,thatwordresolvehintsatsomependingresolutiontobeunfoldedonpaper,whilethe

declarationitself–howsimply!–revelsinthecapacityfortheliterarytomeldandponder

macroscopicissuesofloveanddeath,instantaneously,craftily.Twodisparateconceptsare

melded into one. Fagan continues: “The soles of feet are elegant originals” (7), explicitly

referencingthemetricfeetofthepoem,asshelikensthemtothesolesofhumanfeetwhich

wanderandlink,creatingmeaninginmotionastheytravelacrossplacesandideas.Theline

isabeautifulevocationofwhatMagranecalls“geopoeticsinpractice”:aninterlinkingofplace

andpoetrywhichconcernspast,presentandthepossibilityofshapingnewfuturesthrough

“a route-finding practice” (Magrane et al. 1). In “Observations on Time, Cargo”, Fagan

perceives the creative control of the poet who, in moving through space figuratively,

geographicallyandliterally,holdsthepotentialtore-makemeaninginrelationtosocietyand

land,to“cutthestreetlikeoldsuper-eights”(11).Itisestablishedthatlanguageandpoetry

tothepoet’smindholdgreatcapacityinmeaning-making,andthatthiswillbeunfoldedin

thelatersequences.

2.2ANINHERITANCEOFCOLONIALISM

In “Observations”, Fagan’s alignment of “letters”, “inscription” and “apostrophes”

with “freight” and “cargo” also highlights an inheritance of colonialism still present in

languagethatisassociatedwiththeactoftrade(3).Thisrecognitionunderlinesthecomplicity

oftheEnglishlanguageinthedispossessionofAboriginallands,aswellasthedestructionof

ecologicallandscapes.Theconcernisexpandeduponintwolaterpoems:thepoem“Proviso”

from the centos sequence “First Light” (16), and the poem “Authentic Nature” from the

sequenceofthesamename(73).

OneoftheundertakingsofFagan’scollectionasawhole,then,istoutiliselanguage

inawaywhichrecognisestheviolenceconcealedwithinit;thisisdecolonialworkinlinewith

Rose’stheoryofrecuperationwhichproposes“searchingoutthehiddenhistoriesandthe

localpossibilitiesthatilluminatealternativestoourembeddednessinviolence”(Rose24).In

“Proviso” (16), Fagan explicitly describes the genocidal aspect of colonisation, while

highlightingtheroleoflanguageinperpetratingthatviolence:

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DrivingdownBroadway

Itoldmychild:itwasneveryours,

onlyanamingcall,pitchedtheirtents

&destroyedwholenations

eightmilesfromhere. (16)

ThepoemisapparentlysetinNewYorkCity,giventhatthespeakerisdrivingdownBroadway,

and that the cento is composed of poems byNew York poet AnneWaldman (Fagan 99).

“Broadway”mightalsorefertotheAustraliancityofSydney,thepoet’sclosestcitywhich

hosts amain street of that name (16). This is the beauty of the cento form; it combines

contextual possibilities across space and time, broadening the poem’s scope and in this

instance,highlightingasharedcolonialhistory.

Intheaboveexcerpt,thespeakerinformstheirassumedlywhitechildthatthelandis

nottheirs,norwasitever,andthatthecolonisersbegantheirgenocidaloccupationsimply

with“anamingcall”(16).Faganhererecognisesthesinistercolonialcapacityandhistorical

legacy of language. The “naming call” – designating ours, and empty, not yours – has

instigated the violent removal of people, animals and vegetation, justified by the false

assertionthattherewasneveranythingherebefore.InAustralia,thiscolonialfalsityhasbeen

describedbyecologicalthinkersasthe“GreatAustralianEmptiness”(White15).Australiawas

foundedonterranullius–thatfalseandviolentdeclarationwhichpavedthewayforgenocide

anddispossessionacross all peoples and species.As Fagan implies, it is colonial language

whichhasallowed for the constructionof theAmericanorAustralian settler town that is

“founded on a hologram” (16). These countries exist as illusory space and maintain an

amnesiacrelationshiptothepast,basedonforgetting.

Faganlinksalinguisticroletothisviolentforgetting,describingwordswhichare“large

enough to contain you: during,/ pine, upend, the eating of men” (16). Words which

perpetrate, words which destroy, words which disappear whole cultures and ecological

systems.ItisenoughtothinkoftherenamingofeveryplaceinAustralia,despitehavingheld

Aboriginalnominationsforthousandsofyears–SydneyforGadigal,MelbourneforNaarm

andBrisbaneforMeanjin,tonameafew.Thepoemisalsodedicatedto“ElectionDay”(Fagan

16).GiventhatthecentowascomposedonNovember112008(99),onecanassumethatthe

electionreferredtoistheUSAPresidentialElectionheldonNovember4,2008.Onthatday,

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the first African American president in history, Barack Obama, was elected to office.

Something to celebrate, then, but as a proviso, the poem acts as a qualification to the

election,asthepoetremindsthereaderand imaginarychildthatthepoliticalspectacle is

imposedonaplacethatwasnevertheirs.

Faganfurtherportrayswarinessofthepoliticalsphereandtheanxietyofobservinga

futureunfold,asstatesfalltoeitherredorblue.Shewrites:“Weliveinaburningsideline,/

sameoldfetch”(16).Here,thenatureofpoliticsanddecision-makingincapitalistsocietyis

highlighted,whereinthepublicislargelyrelegatedtotheside-line,watchingasthepowers

thatbebattleitoutatcentrestage.FetchisarchaicEnglishforastratagemortrick,anduse

of the word again draws attention to the illusory quality of society. How much self-

determinedpowerdoesthepublicreallyhold,withinastructureinwhichwearecontinually

relegatedtothesideline?

Asmentionedinchapterone,thefifthsequenceofthebook“AuthenticNature” is

largelyconcernedwithquestionsofauthenticityandsubversionsofpower,aswellas the

relationship between language, land and subjectivity, which will be explored in the next

sectionofthechapter.Thepoemforwhichthesequenceisnamed,alsocalled“Authentic

Nature”, is interesting firstly for its consideration of a transposed colonialism in the

intellectual sphere. Fagan considers how European theorists are continually applied to

settler-societylandscapes,writing:

Somekindoftransplantedintegrity

hastakenplace,thewords

andrhymesofolderempires

frayingundereucalypts (74)

Fagan recognises the imperial aspectof continuing to apply European thinking to ancient

Aboriginalland,whichisrepletewithitsownhistoryofstory-tellersandthinkers.Thesense

ofsuperficialityofthecolonialapplicationisemphasisedthroughFagan’suseoftheclinical-

sounding term transplant,whichdescribes some foreignmaterialmoving to anunrelated

place. The “lessons/ of an unlevelled meeting” between one country, imposing itself on

anotherplace,arelistedbyFaganinhermentionoftwoEuropeanmedicinalplants–arnica

and eyebright – which have been introduced as medicinal balms in Australia but which

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simultaneouslyobscureanAboriginalvisionofnativeplants,suchasvarietiesofacaciaused

traditionallyforarthritis,sleepandindigestion(Fagan74,Gott).

“AuthenticNature”takesonthetaskofunderminingtheauthorityofthe“rhymesof

olderempires”,byinsteaddigging“foradifferentlanguage,/anewbalmforthebruise/of

lostopportunities” (74).Thisnewbalm is foundwithin themeditationof thepoem itself,

whichthoughtfullyaddressestheproblemofauthenticitythroughlanguage.

Alongshadowpasses

overthegarden.Yesterday

Iburiedthebones,feathersandskulls

oftwomagpiesfallen

fromanestduringstorms,

eachbundlelikecoal,

aplainmusicofrepair.

Somethingaboutthegesture

troublesme.Authenticity

comesatapriceitseems– (73)

Thetoneofthispoemisintimateandsoulful.Itssoftnessbeginstheprocessofa“musicof

repair”forthewrongscommittedthroughlanguageofthepast.Thebodiesofthemagpies

representedasbundles“likecoal”portray thegentlenessof themomentofburial anda

feeling of closeness between creatures. Nevertheless, the speaker is troubled by the

meaninglessnessoftheact,giventhevastecologicaldestructionsatworkintheworldwhich

thespeakerislikelycomplicitin.Faganquestionstheroleoftheegoinsuchanact,which

mightserveonlytoappeasethehumanmindwithoutcontributingtoanyauthenticecological

solutions.Shethenextendsthisdoubtontolanguageitself,writing:

neo-conconsmaketruthapanacea

foregowhilenaturebecomes

acipherforspeak-easy

consumptiontactics(73)

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HereFaganhighlightsthecommodificationofwordssuchas“truth”whichareutilisedtoact

asa“cipher”–adisguisedwayofwriting,acode–formoredigestible“consumptiontactics”.

Referenceto“authenticity”comingata“price”furtherhighlightsthetransactionalqualityof

our lifestyles, wherein we pay-off and shy away from ecological responsibility, by using

languageorcertainactstohide,disguiseanddistancetherealitiesofourchoices.

But the poem “Authentic Nature” plays an important role in addressing these

problemsofauthenticity,throughitsliteraryreflectionrelatedtodecolonialandecological

thinking. Inclusionof the finalphrase “theobvioushumidity”drawsattention toa settler

Australiandiscoursewhichhasplayedapartinobscuringconnectiontoauthenticplace(74).

It is a phrase which stated repetitiously has succeeded in evacuating areas of northern

Australiaof historical and cultural significance in language, all thewhile furnishing settler

“Aussies”withsomevacuoussenseofnationalself. It’snottheheatthat’llgetya, it’sthe

humidity!–thetropegoes.ItisthiskindofcolonialandcommodifiedlanguagewhichFagan’s

poem works to subvert. The poem asserts authenticity in its own right as a meditative

expressionoftheauthor’srelationshipwithproblemsofauthenticity.

2.3LANGUAGE,LANDANDCONSCIOUSNESS

Thesequence“AuthenticNature”alsoplaysapartinpositioningthepoetinintimate

relationtothemore-than-humanworld.Thisisparticularlytrueof“EchoSounding”(63)and

“Robertson Panegyrical” (68). These works echo with a vitality in language which has

reverberatedthroughnature,thehumanconsciousnessandintothetextofthepoem.

“EchoSounding”isafive-partpoemwhichtracestheriverofsensualitybetweenthe

externalnaturalworldandthespeaker’s interiority.Intheopeningpart,Faganestablishes

thespeaker’sopennesstotheexternallandscape,writing:

Mydreamsriseandfall

likeayacht

ropedtotheday. (63)

34

The image of the rising and falling yacht is one that celebrates harmonious interaction

between man and the natural elements. This portrayed intimacy is furthered in the

observationofa“white-belliedeagle[which]/liftsitscatch”atexactlythesamemomentthe

poet’s“thoughtsarrest/overheadforasecond”(65). Inthis instance,thepoet’sthoughts

directly mirror the bird catching its prey. There is direct relativity between human

consciousness in dreams and thought, and the shimmering environment. It’s a gorgeous

moment of reflectivity which furthers that sense of connectedness between all things

discussedinchapterone.Thereisimplicitrecognitionherethatliterarycriticismorpoetics

cannolongerbewritten“as if itwereamatterofhumanagencyalone”(Clark,Threshold

Concept116).Rather,languageandthoughtareintrinsicallytiedupwithinthepatternsofthe

nature.

Inthesecondpartofthepoem,Faganfurthersherportrayalofaco-harmoniousand

supportive relationship between nature and human. She describes the ancient forms –

“primitivemangroves”–whichexistandflourishalongtheshoreline,juxtaposedalongside

theman-madeyachtofmodernity(63).Describingthe“shellgrit/scrubbingthehull”,Fagan

imbuessomekindofintentionalrelativitybetweenthegritwhichactsserviceablyuponthe

boat,simultaneoustotheboatmovingfluidlyoverthewater(64).Theclippedstyleofthese

two-lineverses imbues spaciousness into the textof thepoem,whichvisuallymimics the

boat,bobbingatopthewater.Itisthroughthepoetictextthatharmoniousrelationbetween

manandnatureiscelebrated.Faganutilisesthelanguageandformofpoetryasapositive

force of intimacywhich exists beyond an extractive view of nature. Nature is called as a

witness to human experience, and human experience remains responsive to nature’s

energies.

Inpartthreeofthepoem,theatmosphereofsunandserenityevolvesintoafeeling

oftension,asthesunbeginstoset:

Thesunisaportrait

ofnecessity.Firstequation:

velocityofwind

orthecomingdark. (64)

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Inthesestanzas,Fagandepictsanexternalworldthatismathematicallyboundtocyclesand

repetition,butalsonecessity.Nolongerthefuzzyvisionofharmonioussunonwater,Fagan

highlightshowhumanconsciousnessandactivitiesaretiedtothenaturalcycles;whenthe

environment changes, so too do our feelings, and our capacity to act. It’s a poignant

recognitionofourdependenceon theworkingorderof theenvironment, andonewhich

reflects on a larger scale, our entanglement with predicted greater upheavals of climate

change.Faganfurthersherportrayaloftensionthroughincorporationofatriadofsex,death

andfear:

Mybackishardagainst

thedeck,nylonspills

ballooningfromthereel

inscatteredloops.

Cryout,scaleandlivingtooth,

pailofchickengut

tipsoverwhereyourfoot

catchesmine. (64)

Thespeaker’shardbackevokesanxietyattheshiftingweathersandclosingdarkness,but

positionedasitisagainstthedeck,simultaneouslysuggestssensualitythroughamemoryof

sex, in hardness. From the opening of the poem, the speaker’s memory has referred to

anotherhumanpresent intheirconsciousness,andpossiblypresentupontheboat’sdeck

(“yourjawline”(63)).Thenylonspillingovertheharddeckvisualisesafeelingofpleasurein

release,whiletheensuing“cryout”ispungentlysexualinitsevocationoforgasm(64).Sex

combines with elements of life (“living tooth”) and death (“pail of chicken gut”) as two

humanscatchfeetwithintheworldofweathers(64).Thisislifeembodiedinthetextofthe

poem,inallitspain,lustandglory.Faganrefusestoshyawayfromanecologicalperspective

ofhuman-like-animal,pitchingandswayinginlove,sexanddeath,atopthewater.

36

Thefinalpartofthepoemisacomplexrepresentationoftheinteractionsbetween

language,landandhumanconsciousness:

Clouddeliversthejetty

intoparable.

Metalreflections

showacatlandingafish,

transfixedasNarcissus

abovethedeep. (65)

Here, the cloudwhich acts upon the jetty actively transmits a lesson to be learned from

nature,ifoneisopentodoso.Thepoetrecognisesakindofagencyinthenaturalworldfrom

whichhumanconsciousnesscangrow.Thereisalsorecognitionoftheintrinsicelementof

nature,embeddedinclassicliterarytales.Humansubjectivityispositionedinrelationtothe

world,inawaythatisopenandperceptive.Thisquietsenseofsubjectivityisfurtheredin

Fagan’sfinalrepresentationofthecat,“transfixedasNarcissus/abovethedeep”(65).Inthis

image,theviewerinitiallyperceiveshumanegothroughthe“metalreflections”whichbring

tomind theGreek figureNarcissus,whostared lovinglyathisownreflection inwater for

eternity (65).But the image is complex; in reality thecat iswhollyabsorbed in its taskof

fishing.Faganrecognisesthebeautyofacreatureabsorbedinthecyclesoflifeanddeath,

irrelevantofego.

“EchoSounding”thusworkstodepictahumanconsciousnesswhichiscuriousand

receptivetonature.ThepoetictextiscelebratedasameansfordismantlingwhatDeborah

BirdRosecalls“narcissisticsingularity”intheself,by“findingdialoguewithotherpeopleand

withtheworlditself”(Rose21).Formationofhumansubjectivityinrelationtothenon-human

world is furthered in the later poem also in “Authentic Nature”, entitled “Robertson

Panegyrical”. “Robertson Panegyrical” evokes place through the panegyric form,which is

traditionallyapublishedtextorspeechinpraiseofsomeoneorsomething.

37

Outwheresun-sweetgrasses

pushateucalyptusstumps,

wherepineyhulks

restraintheskyandcockatoos

cracksuccour

fromsappycones

beforerisinginawhump

ofjewellywings,wherejumping

jodiesteemcyrillic

overlitteredbark (68)

Fagan’suseof language in thispoem is sonorousandechoing.Alliterationandassonance

withinthephrase“sun-sweetgrasses”evokesonthetonguethatsensualityoftheblades,

shimmeringgentlyagainstsmoothtrunks;similarlyinthephrase“cockatoos/cracksuccour”

the technique of hard sound c alliteration passing onto contained assonance portrays

intimatelytheanimalbeing,absorbedinitsaction,similartothecatin“EchoSounding”(68,

66).Further,thesensualdripofthesapin“sappycones”iswonderfullyevoked,againthrough

emphasisonsmoothssounds,whiletheonomatopoeic“whump”is joltinglysuggestiveof

theforcefulwingsofthecockatoos,atworkintheair.Theword“jodies”isAustralianslang

foratypeof jumpingant (68). Itsuseherepokesfunatasettlerrelationshiptothebush

whichtendstowardburlesqueoftheoutbackandthehumanpositionwithinit.Thistypeof

parodyinglanguagemayhaveevolvedasaresponsetoaperceivedalienatedandambiguous

positionwithinthecountrybymanyearlyconvicts-cum-settlers,whoinitiallyconceivedof

Australiaasexile(Rose45).

Inthispoem,attentivenesstonatureactivelyenlivensthepoeticlanguage;thereisno

attemptathumanprojectioninthesurrounds,onlyanexplorativeandplayfulendeavourat

depictingthatsensuality,vivacityandteemingspiritof theworldwhich is informedbyan

activelistening(Miller327).ItisalmostasifFaganprovidesasoundsintranslationof“the

coolworld/closingin”(70).Thistranslationisledbyrecognitionofthesubjectivityofnon-

humanbeings,ratherthananyegocentricimpositiononthem.Faganpairsthemore-than-

human world with verbs in the active form, to emphasise a wilful activity in nature, an

38

aliveness,anexcitingandtouchableenergy:“salt”is“fizzing”,“flies”are“robbingfocus”and

“sheepretreatinjerkytrot”(69–70).Thispictureofavivaciousnaturalworldresonateswith

Plumwood’secophilosophy–thatwemustworktoperceivetheagencyofnature,soasto

graspmorefullytheinherentvalueoftheenvironmentbeyondourselves,andconsequently,

toreimagineourconnectedplacewithinit(“ActiveVoice”9).

Languagethusemergesin“EchoSounding”and“RobertsonPanegyrical”asatoolfor

listeningandforrelatingtoplaceinawaywhichrecognisesthemanybeingswhichinhabitit.

Consequently,it isalsothesteppingstonetowardhumanconsciousnessreformation,with

thegoalofestablishingasubjectivitythatisopenandhumble,andlessrestrictedbyauthority

insociety.

2.4POETRYASSUBVERSION

Fagan’suseoflanguageforsubversionismostevidentwithin“TheOctetRule”,the

opening poem of sequence “Authentic Nature” (59 – 61). This poem has already been

addressedinchapteroneforitssubversionofanynotionofauthenticityinnature,andits

representationoftheintertwinementofthenaturalworld,thetechnologicalandthemodern.

Here,thefocuswillbeonsubversionofinevitabilityintheliterarytext,whichsimultaneously

reflects subversion of seemingly inevitable power structureswithin society. Aswe recall,

Fagan “like[s] the idea of an unquiet poetry,” (qtd. in Brown 2), and “TheOctet Rule” is

certainlyunquietinitsuseofjuxtapositions,splicingandoutrageousimagery,whichadvocate

forrenewedconsciousnessformationthroughpoeticexperimentation.

Asdescribedinchapterone,thetitleandstructureof“TheOctetRule”arealigned;

witheight lines ineachstanzaofthepoem,andbyandlargeeightbeats ineach line,the

structuremimicsthescientificoctetrulewhichstatesthatanatomwitheightelectronsinits

outer shell is at peak stability. The entirety of the poem is however based upon the

formulationofarigidstructurewhichisrepeatedlybrokenthroughout.Thisresonatestrue

withtheopeningimageofthepoem,“youbuiltahouse&refused/tofurnishit”(59).Already

thishasbeenshowntoundermineauthenticityinnature;simultaneously,themetaphorical

refusaloffurnishingalsounderminesthevalidityofthestructural“house”ofthepoemand

consequently, any inevitability in meaning for both the poetic text and wider societal

narratives.

39

Theideaofstructuralsubversionismadeexemplarywithinthefourthstanzaofthe

poem, inwhichFagandemands:“Sowhat ifmachinesparodyall futureempires?”,before

mentioning “an instinct for novels” (60). This statement pinpoints a certain trait in

contemporaryculturethatisinfatuatedbythelinearity,or“realisticattitude”ofthenovel

form, as was so vehemently denigrated in Andre Breton’s famous 1924 Manifesto of

Surrealism (6 – 7). In the Manifesto, Breton drastically dismisses the rationality and

inevitabilityofthenovelform,emphasisingthenecessityofpoeticdeparturefromthelogical

soastoexplorethecapacityofimaginationinliterature.Similarly,Faganseemsunimpressed

with the “purely informative” style of literature (Breton 7), writing: “All this talk about

meaning/ismakingmedizzy”and“don’tloseit/whenyourbooksstartacting/recklessly&

tellingpeople/toshutup”(60).Thepoemactivelyseekstounderminefixedmeaning.Instead,

itischaracterisedbyshort,sharpsentenceswhichswiftlyswing“incircles”tocreatemeaning

whichisoutwardand“cylindrical”(60).

The result isaboundary-crossingpiecewhichcontinually subverts linearnarrative,

whilepaintingapictureofa contemporary lifestyle that is simultaneously isolated,highly

consciousandwitty:

Anyoneelse

onthisdamnship?Hecomplained

aboutthespellingbutIhungon,

brilliantasnowherespecialtogo. (59)

Here, Faganwonders aloudwhether anyone is followingherwayward creative act,while

conversely,amaleauthoritycomplainsabouttechnicalitiesofthebanalityofspelling.Fagan

hangson,however,shiningthroughherpoetics,despiteavoidingallsenseofinevitabilityas

encapsulatedin“nowherespecialtogo”.Instead,theexperimentalcapacityofpoetryisheld

opentowardagoalofenrichedconsciousness,asindicatedbytheepigraphofthepoem,“The

mindturnsaround,nolongerfacinginitsdirection”(Cageqtd.inFagan69).Withthisline,

Fagan forewarns a consciousness shift, informed by the avant-garde experimentations of

composerJohnCage,whichwereknowntodisassociate listenersfromtherigidityoftheir

perceivedcontext,andthrowtheirthinkingintoalternatemodes.“Comedy/isakindofbasic

displacement” Fagan highlights (60), and it is this that her text consistently achieves:

40

displacingfixedmeaning,assheunderminesanyseparationbetweennatureandthemodern

world, “subtract[ing] components” and reinvigorating age-old phrases with grating

unexpectedimagery,asexemplifiedby“Stilllifewithturnips!”(61)

Fagan’s subversionof linearityandexpectation incontent thenextends tosubvert

widersocietalnarrativesofconsumerismandconsumeristicmodesofbeing.Sheutilisesthe

imageofthe“plug-indevotionaliconsat/CashConverters”whichmakeherthink“aboutfake

annunciation&tides/ofcheapbelief”(61).InFagan’svision,consumerismappearstobethe

newreligion;itprovidesappeasementtothetroubledanthropocentricego,butultimately,

manifestsas“akindofbasicloneliness”farfromanywholesomenourishment(61).Theword

“annunciation” also indicates a concernwith commodification in language (61); as Fagan

statesin“EcopoeticsandPedagogies”:

My main gripe with ecopoetics is a drift into transcendent “solution-speak” that

dilutes criticismwhilemaintaining the status quo. Comfortably green. Fashionably

eco.There’snopointpilingupthebland-out (Beckett: failagain, failbetter).More

energy,lessmainstreaming! (Faganetal.3)

The “tides of cheap belief”mentioned in “TheOctet Rule” refer not only to cheap items

boughtreligiouslyinsocietybutalsotoafakeannunciationinlanguagewhichpurportstolive

consciouslyandecologically(61).Thisconcerntiesinwiththepreviouslydiscussedproblem

of ecological authenticity in “Authentic Nature” (73). Fagan here makes a mockery of

mainstreamedecolanguagebydeclaring“Aggravate/purity”(61).Shedrawsattentiontothe

massiveroleofconsumptionandcommodityinourlives,aschannelledthroughourshopping,

when shewrites: “Say hello to the supermarket” (60).Her statement “My kingdom for a

Porsche!” is a humorous and humble indication that despite our best attempts at living

ecologically,we all harbour fondness for consumeristic itemsbut are able todirectmore

energyintoalteringthewaysinwhichwethinkanddesire(61).

Thepoemconsistentlyaggravates thinking throughstylisticexperimentationwhich

notonly unchains it from linguistic inevitability, but alsounchains the ecoworld froman

inevitable“supermarket”future(60). InFagan’sworld, the“skyexceeds/prediction”(61);

thereisalwaysmore,thereistheunknownanditisuptoustoexplorethosepossibilities,in

bothecologicalandartisticconsciousness.Herskittishtechniquesofspliceandjuxtaposition

41

ultimatelyunderminethestabilityoftheoctetrulewhichshehasclaimedtobeexploring.

“Usually/havetobreakit,”Faganadmits,“Turnup/mindradio&samplefreely”(61).The

worldenvisioned–“stillthisworldhere,buttransformed”–isoneinwhichartisfundamental

toresuscitatinghumanconsciousnesswithintheenvironment(Faganetal.1).

2.5HEALINGANDEXPANSIVENESS

Whilelanguageascolonialinheritancehasbeendepictedasahistorical,destructive

forcewithinthecento“Proviso”,simultaneouslylanguageemergeswithinthatsamepoem

asavitaltoolforre-thinkinghumanconsciousnessinrelationtothelandanditsfirstpeoples.

In “Proviso”, themother, tellingher childofAmerica’s colonial history (“[they] destroyed

wholenations/eightmiles fromhere” (16))engages in story-telling tobreakanamnesiac

relationtothepast,byrecognisingthe“weightofhistory”andwitnessingpastandpresent

violence(Rose14).Theon-goingpresenceofpossessiveanddestructiveforcesonthelandis

depictedwithinthestatement“Wedothislandscape/crownedandslow”(16).Here,theverb

doisindicativeofanaggressiverelationshiptothelandbasedonactionandextraction,rather

thanharmoniousinteraction,while“crowned”carriesforthanon-goingimperialisticelement

fromthepast.Thetextofthepoemholdsboththememoryofviolenceandrecognitionof

on-goingimplicitviolence;thisisimportantecologicalworkinlinewithRose’stheorythat“to

writeasifthesufferingofthosewhowereharmednevermatteredwouldbetoperpetuate

violence in the present” (Rose 14). Fagan’s construction of subjectivity in the poem thus

attempts to embrace a multi-sided vision, relative to both Indigenous and western

communities.

Fagan’s experimentation with construction of the perceptive self, progresses

throughout the cento sequence “First Light”, as she writes toward dissolution of the

egotistical subjective consciousness (Fagan 14 – 24). This is achieved first and foremost

throughthenotableformofthepoems;ascentos,alltenarecomposedfrommanyother

texts.Intheappendixnotes,Faganstates:“ThecentoisaRomanformofsamplingorcollage

poetrythatdatesfromthethirdcentury”;shethenlistsallsourcetextsandauthors(98).Itis

astoundingtonotethatsomeofthesepoemsaremadefromovertensourcetexts.Fagan

hascombinedandmodified–effectivelyrecyclingoldworks–tocreatebraveandboldpieces

whicharenotonlyecological inthesensethattheyrepurposetheoldtomakeanew,but

42

which also undermine any sense of the egotistical subjective self, instead embodying

connectednessbetweenallthingsandthought.Thesepiecesestablishasenseofcommunity

throughthesharingofideasandlanguageacrossspaceandtime.Theyencouragereflection

acrossarangeofsourcetexts,whileinstigatinganewveinofthought.Theoveralleffectof

thecentosistopropagatealanguagewhichwritesoutwardlyandcollaborativelywithother

poetsandthinkers,towardreinvigoratedhumanconsciousness.

Thepoem“Cinematico”isaprimeexemplaroftheworkofthecentosindissolving

thesubjectiveselfandthinkingtowardexpansion.Thepoemopens:

Thismakesnodifference.

Asentence

thesentence

makesnodifferencebetween. (18)

Fagancallsintoquestiontherigidityoflanguagewhichattempttostructurallyfixandlabel

theexternalworldanditsbeings.Thedetrimentaleffectofdefining livingessencesofthe

worldinanunyieldingandseparatistlanguageisexpressed.Fagancontinues:“Arrayherin

clothofgold,/shedoesnotrememberanyoranges”(18).Here,languageasasugaredcoat

ofgoldactuallyworkstodistancethedescribedbeingfromtheirrichandwholesomeself.

Instead,Faganwritesnottodefinetheexternal,buttoexpanditandlinkitwithotherbeings.

Sheaccumulatesacombinationofplant-lifeandexpressiveitemswithinthetext,tosuggest

themultiplicitiesofself,writing:

Assemblemossroses

chinaliliesplantsarticles

andandandandmoving

completelyineverydirection.

Dancing.

Thesubjectiveselfisdisbandedintoelementsofthealluring,externalworld,whichdissolves

outwardintoeverythingness,likelight.Thisdescriptionactuallymimicstherecycledtextsof

thecentoswhichconnectandcombinethinkersacrossspaceandtime.“Thesceneopens

43

withastorm,rainbutnohail,”Faganwrites, immersingthe“figure”outwardlywithinthe

weathersoftheworld,incorporatedbutneverbattered.Thepoemisgentleinitssubversion

of linguistic and subjective rigidity; as amanifestation ofmany lines of thought, itworks

towardamodeofbeingthatstrivesineverydirection,butharmoniouslyandhumbly.

This language of expansiveness – and consequently, expanded way of being – is

elaborated upon within the cento “Dadabase” (17). Fagan’s techniques of splice and

juxtaposition are made immediately apparent in the construction of a Dada-esque

conglomerationofwordsandimageswhich,likeinthe“TheOctetRule”,worktoundermine

theauthoritiesof linearrationalityandbourgeoisvalues.“Neo-classicismdiscovers/mice”

writesFagan,immediatelyenvisioningholeswithintheframeworkofclassicistart.Thepoem

actsasa“paroxysm”,asuddenoutburstofcreationwhichisperformative(“hellohoneythis

is cinema”) and which “consolidate[s]/ the harvest of exact calculations” through its

consolidation of many poetic texts. Written in a truly surrealistic style, which combines

dream-likeimagerytopotenteffect,Fagandemands:“Hasgeniuseverspokentoyou/about

accordions?”Thepoemasksustoreconsidertheegotisticaldrivebehindliteraryandartistic

creations,upendingtraditionalemphasisonindividualistcreation,andspurringusinsteadto

imaginativepracticeandcollaboration.

Emphasis is made on the importance of the literary in forming and invigorating

consciousness.

Clearlythere’sanemergency,anAustralian

treatmentforbelief.Whydowechoose

suchdarkplacesforourbooks? (17)

This“emergency”istheanthropologicalcrisis,reflectedinourpositionatthebrinkofclimate

disaster,butitisalsoanemergencyinthinking,exemplifiedby“anAustralian…belief”.The

“Australian” way of conservative and defensive thinking is identified here, and Fagan’s

solutiontoalteringthestatusquoisthroughanemphasison“books”.Sheironicallymentions

writingpoems“togowithadbreaks”,returningtoconsidertheroleofcommodityinourlives

andsuggestingaleantowardapoeticsthatdivertsfromsociety’sconsumeristictendencies,

whileinevitabilityremainingentrenchedinthem.Indeed,theaffinitybetweencommercial

cultureandtheliteraryinthemodernworldremainsstrong,asFaganhumorouslydrawsa

44

parallelbetweentheStarWarsthemedadadadadadadaandthenihilisticartandliterary

movement,Dada,whichseekstoshatterthebourgeoisrealitiesoftheworld.Theeffectof

thepoem is to satiriseostentatious trajectorieswithin the creativeworldwhichaspire to

“genius” and projected “sainthood”, while simultaneously placing importance on an

invigorated art and literature which can assist contemporary thought toward new and

unexpectedmodesofbeing,beyondthestalemateofthestatusquo.

Thefinalpoemofthebook,“Thought’sKilometre”(81),isFagan’slasthurrahonthe

experimental andpowerfulpotentialworkof language toward consciousness reformation

andresistancetolinguisticandphilosophicallimitation.Thepoemmakesupthemajorityof

thefinalsequenceofthebook,ofthesamename,“Thought’sKilometre”(80).Havingalready

subvertedauthoritarianprosaicmodesofbeingin“TheOctetRule”(60)and“Dadabase”(17),

thispoemhasamorespaciousalignment.AsquotedfromSeamusHeaneyintheepigraph:

“Makeyourstudytheunregardedfloor”(qtd.inFagan81).Let’slookwhereweusuallywould

not,Faganimplies.Simultaneously:Let’slookatthefoundationsonwhichwestand.Thetitle

ofthepoemimmediatelyevokesasenseofdistance,ofspaciousnesswhereone’sthoughts

mightdallyandextend,unrestricted.Thesequenceopens:

Ourdesiretoconfinemeaningknowsitselfimpossiblebutthis

cannotarrestheatandwanting

Bluetimecontinues,placementinsensualflux

Weinsistuponintervalsthatgivestillnesstodispersalandwatch

therunningwindowasitcatchestheexactturnofan

afternoon (81)

Inthisopeningstanza,Faganhighlightstheveryhumandesiretoinsistuponstaticmoments

inthingswhicharefluidand“running”,likethepathofthesunasitturnstheafternoon.The

“intervals”whichweinsistuponarelabels,measuresofseparationthatareformedasalens,

likea“window”toprovidesomesenseofmeaningtohumanconsciousness.Faganreturnsto

considerthelinkbetweenlanguageandmeaning-makinginsubjectivity,writing:“Toobserve,

lettingwordswriteus,embodiedineverynerve/Spaceiscloudingoverandwefallin”(81).

Wordsaresignifierswhicharetakenupinthebody,andintheearth,andwithoutthemwe

couldbeadriftinconsciousnesslikecloudedspace.“Languageresurrectsbeautyandsitesit

45

inmuscle,”Fagancontinues(82).ItseemsthatFaganpositslanguageasdistinctlysignifier–

anominaltoolwhichdefinesmeaning inoursurroundingsbyfixing it toearthyform.The

potentialoflanguagecanresurrectbeauty–justthinktotheevocativesoundsof“Authentic

Nature”–butitalsohasatendencytoconfine,andconfinewithinthematerial.

Thattendencyemergesinalaterstanzaof“Thought’sKilometre”,asFagantouches

onthecommodificationoflanguage.Shewrites:

Onthecloseheelofacenturythetelevisionwartransformsinto

asupernetspectacleofCulturalFactsavailabletoonline

subscribers

Baffledagainbytaboo

Peoplereachfordescription(85)

Faganseekstoportraytheextenttowhichpeoplerelyondescriptionformeaning-makingin

theirlives,andhowanobsessionwithlanguagecanconfineustoourmaterialtechnologies,

aswell as the digitalworld. The reliance of people on description formeaning-making is

evidentinonlineandsocialmediarealms,inwhichthe“self”isexpressedandre-expressed

throughdifferentformsoflinguisticandvisuallanguage.Itisalsoevidentwithintheculture

ofidentitypolitics,inwhichlanguageissynonymouswithself-making.Thephrase“supernet

spectacleofCulturalFacts”highlightsahungryabsorptionoflanguagewithinsociety,aswell

asitsexistencetransactionally,inanageinwhichinformationissynonymouswithcultural

power.Faganiswaryofthetransactionalsphereoflanguage.Shedemonstratesitssuperficial

naturethroughthealliterationandinherentburlesqueofthephrase“supernetspectacle”.

TheissueresonateswithAmitavGhosh’sstatementconcerninglanguageandart, inwhich

modesofconcealmentmasktheharshrealitiesofananti-ecologicalandfast-pacedexistence

withinthecontemporaryworld(Ghosh11).Weliveblindedbyourownculturalpractices.

Fagan instead suggests use of a poetic language which expands toward “total

consciousness” similar to that found in “dreams” (84). This potentially expanded

consciousnessisaliketothose“games”whichFagandescribesplayingasachild;theywere

“differentastheyhappenedafterpallidsunhadsetupontheearlyafternoon,leavingusto

recreatedailiness frommemory, starredbynightand impossible toverify” (86).Playing–

both physically, andwith language, experimentally – in darkness, permits the children to

46

travelfurtherthanbefore,tobeadventurous,totrial,andtorelinquishtheirattachmentto

“dailiness” (86) – the routine and the usual. Within this newfound freedom, Fagan

emphasises: “Welearntotrustour inkyborders”(86).Poetryand itsmethodof“moving

sideways”canhelptogenerateaspacetobetterunderstandourselvesandoursurroundings

(87).Incontrasttoacommodifiedandfast-pacedinteractionwithwords,Faganalightsupon

alanguagewhichdrifts intodreamscapesoastofreeourmindsfromcontemporarylife–

towardexpansivenessofself.

Ratherthanremainingegotisticaland imperialistically“atthecentreofutterance”,

“Thought’s Kilometre” thusdisplaces the subjective self to consider “howbeinga subject

inhabitsmeaning”(Harrison135).Theeffectisthatthesubjectisdetachedfromthedigital,

anddissolvedintothefabricofatextualuniverse,whichrefusestoprioritisethenarcissistic

individual,butwhichdrifts“strewnandtouching”inimages,lightandideas(Fagan95).This

kind of language is deeply entwined with nature: “A wanted tide [which] empties into

alphabetsandmoveson,fillingand/refilling,comfortablyelusive”(86).It’salanguagewhich

knowsthelimitsoflanguageitself,likethe“rivers”whichmeanmorethan“theirnames”(86).

ToFagan,thereisdepth,beautyandspaciousnessintheworld,andinourminds.Thereis

roomtomove,toadjustwaysofthinkingandliving,throughanalteredrelationshipwiththe

mediumoflanguage.

It is emphasised, however, that through language, Fagan seeks to address very

concreteconcerns,including“ablazingfuture…predicted/Akoel,theverticalair,aseriesof

summers” (95). Here, reference to the blazing heat of predicted Australian summers is

forewarned. For Fagan, language is a tool which might be used to make change in

responsiveness:“Poetrywakingthought”(96).

Storiesstepuptoreceiveguests,toaskaboutpowerdrawing

inconclusiveends,markingslowtime

Awhitepoemabluepoemalandscapepoem

Historystationsus,ourrealregardforpresenceacceptedin

tomorrow’stongue (96)

Abelieverinthepoweroftheliterarytoaddresspeoplefromallwalksoflife,Fagandescribes

akindofdiversityinpoetry–“white…blue…landscape”–whichmightcollaboratetoward

47

actionthroughlinguisticexperimentalism;“Historystationsus”,shewrites(96).Historyhas

positionedusatacrucialcrossroads.Ifashumanswetrulybelieveinasustainedbiological

diversity,inharmoniousexistencewithcreaturesandland,andina“realregardforpresence”

(96,emphasisadded), thenwemustworktoachieveequityand justice forallbeingsand

facetsoftheearth.AsFagandepicts,changemustoccurfirstandforemostthroughlanguage,

throughembracing“tomorrow’stongue”towardnewwaysofbeingandthinking,sothatthe

“rootsandleavesandrain”mightremainandflourish,eachastheyare,irreplaceable(97).

48

CONCLUSION

Fagan’semphasisontheroleoftheliteraryincreatingspacetoaddressecologicaland

culturalproblems,resonateswiththerecentlyreleasedAustralianessaycollectionLivingwith

theAnthropocene(2020).Intheirintroduction,editorsCameronMuir,KirstenWehnerand

JennyNewellwrite:

Culturalproblems,toourminds,areaddressedthroughstories…[which]revealand

acknowledgeasimportantthoseaspectsoftheAnthropocenethatwon’tbevisiblein

the strata a thousand years from now: grief, hope, trauma, generosity, courage,

politics,failures,successesandthedeterminationofthosefindingtheirwaythrough.

(7)

Fagandiffersinherfocusonexperimentalisminpoeticlanguage,ratherthanprose.Butthere

isadeterminationinFagan’spoeticswhichseeksanewandall-encompassinglanguageto

healwoundsofthepast,andpavethewaytowardanacceptablefuture.

ForAboriginalpeople,story-tellingasamodeofhealingandconsciousness-formation

hasalwaysbeenfoundationaltoculture.In“GoolaraboolooForeignPolicy”inLivingwiththe

Anthropocene, StephenMuecke describes celebrated Nyigina Elder Paddy Roe, who held

“officeunderhisoldtamarindtree”andtoldstoriestodevelopers,whocametohis land,

seeking to destroy it (336). These developerswould listen to Paddy’smeanderingwords,

beforetakingtheir leaveofhisCountry,“feelingbetter informedandfeelingbetterabout

Countrythewayitwas”(Muecke336).Fagan’semphasisonpoeticconsciousnessformation

inFirst Light echoes in thewakeof an IndigenousAustralian tradition,ofpeacefuluseof

languageinstory-telling,toinform,exploreandalterconsciousness.

Non-IndigenousAustraliansmustnowtakeresponsibilityforlisteningto,responding

to and incorporating knowledges from Aboriginal tradition into contemporary ecological

practice.AsBillNeidjiemusesinStoryAboutFeeling:“White-Europeangottobelistenthis

culture/ and this story/ because important one this” (171). The collection First Light has

shownitselftoberichinanattentivenesstowardadiversityofvoices,acrossthehumanand

non-humanworlds. It responds – humbly and thoughtfully – to pressing issues regarding

49

colonialismandecology,throughanexcitingandexperimentalpoeticswhichrelishesinplay

withform.Withitsdirectionalaspecttoward“adifferentlanguage,/anewbalm”(74),Fagan

envisionsarenewedoutlookinlanguage,whichworkstowardajustandsustainablefuture,

“hoperestingwithinvention”(97).

After reading and re-reading Kate Fagan’s First Light, I was struck by the nature of the

collection as vigorously experimental, while underpinned by a serene and philosophical

appreciationof languageatwork.Faganappearstobeunafraidofpushingboundaries,of

playingwithwit,performativevoiceandallusion,withakeeneyetosocialandecological

justice. And yet there is an element ofmeasurement in her poems which renders them

decidedlyelegant,howeverbold.

Thefollowingcreativecomponentofthisthesiscomprisesmyownpoetrycollection,

Earthworks.ThepoemsinthissequenceresonatewithFagan’swork,inthattheyareguided

byanappreciationofinterconnectednessacrossearth,anaffinitywithplantsandanimals,an

intellectualism,andimportantly,apenchantforplay:tomakelightofthestrangenessoflife,

while testing the formal aspectsof thepoetry in addressing issuesof climactic and social

importance.Bothworksconsiderthecomplexitiesandhypocrisiesoflivinginurbanandsemi-

ruralsettings,whileacutelyawareofsensitivityinsurroundingnature.

Earthworks ismade up of three sections: “Echo”, which depicts an inheritance of

colonialisminAustraliandailylife;“Ego”,whichcomprises26poemsfromAtoZcomposed

through a performative and interior voice; and “Elemental”,which explores ameditative

senseofresponsibilitytotheland,forpast,presentandfuturegenerations.Fagan’swork–

andmyown–seektocreatebothhumourandrefinementinpoetry,allthewhilebelieving

intheseriousnessoftheproject;inpoetryasavitalandexperimentalmodeofthought,which

mightcontributetoareformedandexcitingworld.

50

EARTHWORKS

51

ECHO

resounding

footsteps

sound

52

It’ssobrightthemoon

likeagiantlamp

we’reinsideofit

.

Thesunrises

belowthehorizon

Thesourceoftomorrow

sitsboldlikeegg,alongthehairline

Cracksandfissures

crossthescalp

navigatingtheoceanbed

Wherethetectonicplatesshift,

theravinespitshistories,plays,legislation

andpoems.

Theplayersalltake

tothemicrobialstage,rubbingshoulders

swiftlymultiplied

Thebluewhale

groansandrumbles

asitglidestowardtheequator

Amassofmeat,skin,blubberandorgans

andfiftyyearsplayingintheclearwarmwater

53

.

Theearthisasphereofwarring

Thosemaraudingships

riggedup

bybuccaneers

Namedtoconquer,

cutandkill–

Thepeoplesuffer.

Somecreaturesshrink

tofossil,underfoot

Somegrowandgrow,likecacti

Ahumanrootstalknetwork

flourishing

newgrowth

The60,000yearlongdream

willnotbeblitzed

byinvasion.

.

Theoceanstilltellsthatstory.

54

Ofcrestingsailsand

bootsonsand

landfolkstaring,uneasy.

Citiessewnandshot

likepatchwork,

fenceshitchedup,

trunkscollapsedonebyone…

Somepasserines

burrow

theireggsinthesedge

It’shardertohideahuman

.

Intheoffice,

thesolicitortakescalls

Inthecity,

classescajoleandmarching

Thecraggymountsofgreyrock,

barebums,

onceforestedbylianavines

Thetarmac

wherewetravel

onsonglines

Theislandsstocking

mothersandcattle…

55

It’sallbarenow,soil

laughaboutit,

folkdrivin’whiteutes

armscrookedatthesill,

Smokin’andlaughin’aboutit.

.

Thestormcracksandthemountainsdisappear

behindavaporousmist

lightningboomsandthebirds

flockupward

screaming

Irunfromroomtoroom–

Inthemorning,kidscycle

nonchalant

tothebeach

oldfolktendtotheirperfectroses

andteenagerssiponcansofdrink

gleaming

likenothingcamebeforethis

.

56

It’ssobrightthesun

sodifficulttolook

atit

faceon

57

EGO

Antipodean

Brassica

Calendar

58

AudreyandIwerehuddled

inamound

onthedaybed(woodandcushions)

Audreysmoking

Well,areyoucoming

Joetdemanded

clutchingHennyPenny

lovelyfatoldbird

unwellthough,sporadic

andmoroseclucking

Fewonlookers

Cassie,sageburning

Audreydustedoff

hercallousedhands

swiftly,shortandrobust

marchedtoJoet

thelog(wherethesacrifice

wastohappen)

Heldthechook

firmandloving

aroundfeatheredbreast

headandbeak

hanging

tooneside

Allheldbreath

Audreyspoke

HennyPennyoldbird

goodbyedarling

you’vebeengreat

thepainwilldisappear,soon

Resignedbrowneyes

59

combandwattle

gentlyflapped

inmarshbreeze

Audreypaused

amomentstill

thenherhandsworked

inoneswifttwist

Crrrack,neckbroke

infigureeight

thehen’sneckflipped

dead

Aminormelancholy

onAudrey’sface

Allbreathedout

asshecarriedthehen

toherrestingplace

adug-outhole

behindthekale

patch

Ineversaw

suchstronghands

wiredwithsinew

kitchenburns

ribbonsofmuscle

uptheforearms

whoplayedcatgut

inthelateafternoons

Lifegiver

anddeath

60

BecauseIsaidso,darling.

That’snoreason

todosomething,isit?

andI’vegotmyown

work…

ba-bopbadum

badupbadarupbrumbadarum

rainmakesontinroof

bedroomrosehip

hibiscusand

Whatimportantworkisthat?

61

Clay-breaking,

nottomention

puttingtogether

again

Ifindreasoninthegarden

cuttingsandwithcompost

mudwithgypsum

It’sjustlikemyfatheralwayssaidaboutwalking

Locateaspring

drinkspring-water

beforeMountFranklinthrowsthedoughin

..

heneverchasedmoney

moneychasedhim

dig

62

Don’tpoison

‘tillyouknowit’saweed,

ecoisall

ifyouwantittobe…wait

Idigtheyard

twillloamandsand

drillpictures,vacuum,

hammerin,bastevegetables

vinegar,roastloin

installthewasher,presslinen

stackwood

&burn

you’relikethekelpieofwork-dogs

ifonlypoetrywaspractical

itis,it’sintheland

63

EasternKoel,birdIlearnedtolove

underthenew‘tude…

gorgingmulberries–greenglass

thatglossysheenandredroundeye

hoppingonspringfoliage.

Leavesomeforme?No,Idon’tthinkso.

Spottedthegal,watchout,Ko-elsabout!

Brownspeckledwithayellowgullet

hidingheregginahoneyeater’snest.

Thosesmallerwattle-birds,spent

afranticsearchforfood

tosatisfythenaggingyoungster

who,nowgrosslylarge,migratednorthinwinter.

Doesn’tseemfairnow,doesit,cuckoo

wealllikefruit,besidesthecarnivores

64

Fullandwasted

that’sthekindoflife

I’dliketolive

whateverIdo,

it’llbeperformative

Plantlavenderwithaflourishfordramaturgy

Nowmyeyebendstothewateryimage

reflectingupatme

acareerforthelineationofwater

65

GeorgeblitzedtheCamphorLaureloutback

splintersofwoodinmountainsoil,shade-free,averitablescrap-yard!

PeskyWeedsIcalledthem,aninvasivespecies,

reassuringmyselfatthegapingvista

(meanwhile,walkersgawped,peeringthroughourwindows)

Well,it’sashameaboutthefamilyofbowerbirds

Jane,theneighbourtuttutted,consternation,rockingherorange-headedbabyon

herhip,Dorian

Bytheway,d’youmindifthehubbyclimbsuponyourshed?There’sapiece

flappinginthewind

WhenAudreycameoverandlookedout,shesaid,gee

thisisabitofabattlescene

66

Happy

enpleinadventure,when

thinkingisimpossible

throwkeys,water,oilincar

gobush,nosandals–

acorrelationbetweennature

andartefact

graphite,macchinafotografica,yogamat

afterwardtheegoreturns

whatisethical

howtobuzzword

dirtonmyfaceandmaestraquizzical

you’reanartist

you’rewonderingifthere’sapointtoyourwork

67

IheardAudrey’svoiceecho

throughthephoneline

whatdoyouwant[fromme]

Echoingandechoing

daysofmuscularrock

knottedback,frozenclaws

Embeddedindesire

somekindofroyal

unfulfilledyearning,thetease

Assertingmyselftohookyouin

dependence,demands…

IfeelIamtheweakerperson

Iheardmyselfshouting

damnedandashamed,well

despiteappearances,Iamcapable

Ofcheckingmycolonialinstinct

68

Jack,thefirstbeanstruck

unfurlingfromthepod

withgusto

Acrossthecountry

shoutsforgas

rangout

Energyabundant

onthelockout

thosesacredtrees

Cutcutcut–

Plantthemfast,then,Jack

inevitablegrowth

expansionhack

Takethebamboorods

longitudinally

prioritise

trigger-happy

69

Knowwhatitmeanstofeel

“amanandhisdrill”now

satisfactionofswivel

notchin,screw…

Grainsandtwisting

woodymembrane

tobuildsomething

forthecure

Build–

startsmall,

makeaboxandgrow

thatboxwillhold

thebroadbeans,now

thosecactiwillthrive

innutrition-lesssoil

Thecastleisforbigegos,man

butyourlabyrinthisforGod1

1ThefinalcoupletofthispoemreferencesAmandaLohrey,TheLabyrinth,pp.175.

70

Lefttohisowndevices

ifthere’saway,foxwillfindit

Afoot-longpatchwherethewire

washigherintheground

Foxdugunder,scrammed

andtailuplikehound

snuckthepenof

duck-bumandchicken

Honkwaddling

‘roundtheedge

indust-cloudanddamp

mother-duckpanicking

honkhonkbutbum-down

andallthoselittleeggsbeneath

Mumhadjustfelt

thefirstbeakstapping

Foxlungedandkilled

thedrakefirst,sinking

caninesinplumageandbone,

threwtheroast

againstthewirefence

nodistraction

Mumcamenext,andall

thoseyellowducklings’

headsweretornoff

astheyemerged

fromtheirshells

Foxjimmied

thelocksofthehen-house

Withnodogaround

foxhadtime,determination

71

arussetflash

there’snowheretogo

inachookpen.Unfortunately

onlyonechookwasleft,

theotherstrangled

byAudreyyesterday

FoxpouncedonlonelyBellina

Aflurryoffeathers,teeth

sunkinbird,therewere

nomoreanimals

intheanimalpen

Foxscurriedaway,satisfied

Whendogcamebackfromholiday

hewasrelieved

ofalldoggyduties

72

Mondayshoppingforwafers,nuts

bananas,achickenwithitsfeathersallplucked

It’sscarywhenyougointotheshoppingcentre

that’swhenI’mmostscared

rollingseparatelyuptheescalator

likeparsons,self-containedanddirty-looking

It’syourfault,howdareyoucomenear

Isavedthepope’snose

gaveittotheratafterdinner

73

Noonelikeslearning

whentheparsley’sgonetoseed

allstringyandbeat

buthey–atleastthere’sseed

that’ssomethingtotalkabout

recyclingwettingcardboard

activatingurine

Idon’tknowwhatIwant

tobewhenI’molder

keepplanting,kingparrot

thefemaleislessshowy–

whatofit

74

OctoberJoetwasleavingtoTasmania

soshethrewapartyintheriverhouse

alogcabinbuiltonstoneandmoss

eachspaceseemedaddedasanafterthought

atreedwelling,cloistered

bytrunksandferns,plate-eyedpossums

andparrots,redandgreen,staringcuriously.

Joetknowshowtothrowaparty

afewsnacks,dessertsandeskiesofcoldbeer

fatsmokingjointsandketamine

Gabbycommandedthedancefloor.

IWANTEVERYBODYOUTHERE

boogyingandbopping

ICANALWAYSCOUNTONYOUTWO

upstairs,Joetpropagated

clustersofhome-grownmushrooms

wehadalottodrink

whichIdon’tliketothinkabout

acoupleofbeersfromyesterday’sdinner

anothertwopalealeswithtoomuchhops

75

Jamisonandice,Aaron’sdisgustingchardy

Henkelandbottlesofginandsoda

ThankgodIdidn’topenthewine

Audrey,whodislikesbrightlight

sometimeaftermidnightmumbled

aboutthefairybulbsglaringonthebalcony.

Ifoundarealmofcraftbrownpaper

mademakeshiftshades

whiletheon-lookerswowedandummed

laterIfoundmyselfmid-discussion

onthesimilaritiesbetweenflamencoandtrapmusic

theoriginsoftheSemiticalphabet

thearchitectureoftheArabiankingdomofSicilia

whenitwasabouttimetosleep

KatieandFrankieturnedup

pre-dawn,fromanightofspinning

funkrecordsintown

soweallclambereduptothesandstonecave

tomakefire

canwealljustgetourshittogether

andFUNKandbekind,c’mon,Akirayelled.

76

Thefirewouldn’tblow,alackofoxygen

soagroupendeavourtoigniteensued

Iremovedlogafterlog,huffingbreath

andburntmyarmsbeforethinking

toproptheringupwithwood,

ushertheairunder.Thesunrose.

AudreyandIsleptinourfavouritenook

cossetedbeneaththewindows

wherebranchespushedandthesunstreamedin

quitepainfullyactually.

Inthemorningonherwayout

Bennypokedherheadin

Icouldn’tgobacktosleep

Ihadablindingheadache,theshakes,more

Howwasyournight?sheasked

affectionately

Igrinnedback,itwasgreat

butIregreteverything.

77

Perhapsyourobservationskills

aregood–thecounsellorsaid–

infact,Iamamazed

atyourobservationalskills.

Youclearlyprovide

astrongsupportforyourbrother

andresonate,foryourmother,

yourfather

Ijustwonder

howmuchwehear

ofyourownvoice?

SugarwhybuylandwhenIcanwalkout

andtakeit?

78

Queuepoem

wheremyvoiceissupposedtoemerge,

asmallpoem,asmall

internalperformance

IdrivetoDeeWhy

whentheweather’sfine,

blendedwiththepower

oforganiccotton

peerintotheseawaterandspytwobluebottles

swimmersintoxicmotion

Cockatoosflyoverinapackofeleven

beforetheskybreaks

cockatoosflyover

What’sthemshapesdownthere?Cajoling

Whogivesafuck?

Flyingeleven

79

Removingblackberries

isagameoflife,

you’vegottolearn

topaceyourselforburnout,

steplightlyorplummet

inswamp

cutandpull

woodystems

(nottoomanyorbespiked),

don’tgetegotistical,now

cleanthemuck

offyoursaw,WD40

Whydidn’tanybodytellme

lifewasthiseasy?

Iclearedaquagmireandfound

nothinggrowingbeneath

gotswallowedbyasinkhole

nooneblinkedaneyelid

80

Seatedlanguidlybythelake,

twobodies.It’slate

Longpurroftheswamp

croaksandchatter

powerfulowl

readyingtostrike

Inyourcrouchedbody,anangulartrunk

finebonesofsparrow

eyes

Emeraldismybirthstone.

Thatnight,astheduck’slongingclack

bouncedout

Ourchestsweresteeped

inreedsofpain

It’sarelieftoremember,mydarling

Letwhatexistscontinuetosustain

81

Theproblemis

nodogknowshowluckyheis

Amuzzlefullofsand,

tremblingwhiskers

salivatingchops

andboundonhomeward

orlazeinthesun

andwe’llfollow

thearc

Suchaprince!

Weallrub

andadoreyou,

afamilyofplants

andanimals,certainly

Itisn’talifeofbruisedribs

yellin’,raisinthewrist

bloodoftheloyal

inblackwetnostrils

Butyoudon’tknowthat,

guzzleyourdinner

boyyou’llbe

lonelylater,wewon’t

leaveyou

boy

It’sjustavisitor

youdon’tknow

howlucky

youare

82

Upinthebranches,

leafcrownatdusk

Thesunmakesafireinthewetlands

hop,skip,nudge

touch

(Iwon’tmentionkissing)

Twowrenschirruping,

light-footedonthebark

Thisiswherewebegin

83

Valiantly

theducksskiuplake,

river-planesonblack

ThisistheirSargassoSea

Onlandtheyarefatandambling.

Goodintentionedbutabitimbalanced

likeacast-ironpot

gotawobbleonhim

I’dneverseenanythinglikeit,but…

youknowme,seeingbutwedonotsee.

Asitturnsout,theworldissoqueer

84

Weeachhaveourownhistory

(faceinthefirelightflickering)

lookingoveracrossthebon

toyoursadnesssilhouettedinroseandcream

Thetidesucksupfromthesandandsurges

atrioventricular

Justtoobserveandnottointerfere:

thesmokinglog,

lackofoxygen

bepatient.Itwillburn

85

X

(likescoringthepoppy)

86

Yes,lifeismovingbutslow

betweenthecity

andthemountain

Igetacartan,

thewestisrezoned

anaerotropolis,

flightmachinebuzzards,

nocows.

Inwinter,Iwearthehat

indoorsnow

iceblizzardmeans

runoutside,

yellowcrestedrobin

stillarrives

inconversation,

heybob!there’swhiteness

everywhere

andatthesummit

there’ssnow

87

Zoological

Iseeyou.

Iamsickofnotseeingyou.

Mustelid,doesitfeellikethis,jealous?

Takecarrottimestwo

Whenitcomesdowntoit,

allbeingsarevulnerable

eachoneexposedtosufferingandjoy

Suchpossibility!

entangledintheactofwriting

Stayingin

hotcoffee,warmjumpers

sprayingcoolwateronthethirstygarden

AfeelingIseekinloving.

Thatistheoppositetoantagonism

Thedayspassmoresweetlywithyouhere

cicadasmoreexcitedthanever

weatherchangesfrompouringrain

toloudandwarm

Thecicadafinallyemerges

onthemulberrytree

butdead

88

sevenyearsunderground

sevenyearspoorlyspent

WhenIdie,mystomach

remaininghotafterallelse

89

ELEMENTAL

fleshofearth

breathinair

fireofstomach

waterflowingthroughmylegs

90

EARTH

It’swetwhenit’sgood.

Drybounty–notmuch

takeforitouthere,ayguvner?

Notmuch,wouldn’tput

afucknpennyonit.

Wouldn’tstick

aplantinit.Wouldn’tdig

aholelaydown

ndieinit.

Cornwheretheyams

wereshucked.

Drybristlesofthebush

meantshitandguilt.

Earththefleshandstuff

you’remadeof–

thestuffyouwon’tadmit.

.

Shitandguilt,didImention?

Nowadays,outbush

downtrack

you’llfindabunch

ofloopaper.

Yep,everywhere

thewhitestuff

remnants

91

paperplanesfolded,

crashlandedinscrub.

.

Still,there’sbeautyinrock.Layers

tangelointhemysteryofunder-hangsacredness

Youtraversethatlandwithopenearsandeyes

barefoot,whatever

Placeyourkneesontheturtle’sback

grainsinskintrembledeafeningsilence

.

Andthegrasstreegrows

gulgadya…learned

inDharugtongue,

slowly...realfuckin’slow…

Athoughtfulheadonit

bigheadofhair

encasingitselfinthecoals

guarded–

reverberating

millennia,millennia

Thatresinspear

flungitselftowardthesun

92

whenevertheflames

slitherednear…

NowIseeyouwalk

amongthem,yourchild

inthebalance

crossingthestream

Ilistentotheburble,listening…

.

Someonefelloff,climbingthatoldmeetingplace

therocktablelandwithoutnocloth

Peoplebeenpassingthroughhereforthousandsofyears

It’snotaplacetogetstuck

93

AIR

Whenthewarmairfiltersthrough

thewindow,whenthewarmair,stirredup

onsoiloutsidewhenthewarmair

oflemonandnutmeg,currants

cinnamon–when,seatedatmydesk

ontheleatherchair,apileofpungent

andoilyorangepeelcurlingbeside

stirsupandgentlypools

alongthewallsoftheweatherboards,

whentheringtailpossumscrabbles

withitsclawsinthegreybarealmond

treeoutside,tiltingchairand

turningmynecktosee,thepossum

taildroppingsuspendedinoh,mouth

open,pausingtolookinoh,pinkmouth

andohofglassyandroundeye

Whenthestreetlightcoldlyilluminates

thesnails,oozingontothetaut,fresh

beans,hooroooftheowl

hoorooandthecrackling

feelofthelamp-litroom,faded

redcarpetandcrispwhite

coverlet,stacksofmessily

arrangedbooks,whenthewarmair

tipsover,inslidingfashion

theweightedscaletodawn–

Whenthecigarettestubiscold

andtwistedinceramic,veneer

94

ofthedeskiscoldandtheliftedveil

sitscoollyonfir,greenoaks

andthedistant,shaggyeucalypts

Whenthesunshootsthrough

andtheredwattlebird,fitsitsbeak

methodicallyindew,andIwatching

leantoward…

.

I’veclimbedupandlevelled

withtermite’snest.

Clingingtotheweatheredtrunk,

cloud-gazingandweeds

incumbentthroughwindow–

Whatmore

couldyouwant?Water.

Ain’tnogoin’tapissuphere,holdit

orpisslikeapossumongumnuts!

Iwas brighteyed

andfrozenintorchlight

riveroffabric

driedleafontreetopssway.

.

Inthemorning

whenthesunisrisen,thetrees

arestillshiftinginair

Saltbornedripping

whileyouareasleep,or

slowlyrousing

Thelightcracklesonthedry

95

underfoot,asIstep

carefully,collectthewood

Thesunishalfmoon

andinitssuspense

thebeautifulhoursarepassing

.

Iimmediatelywant

totranslateitinsong

Funny

hoppingonarrowhead,lichen

swinginglimb-wardbacktocamp

It’seerielakeside,quiet

Greysmoulder

onfar-side

Smoke-hairedcoupleshepherdingmullet

Areprievefromthesongofcicadas

Myskinfeelspale

andlanguage

issaltyattheedges

.

It’saveryprecariousleanandpropel

standingonawobblytable

it’stoodark

Gail

DoIreallyhavetoclimbupthereagain?

uhoh,theneighbour’scoming

96

FIRE

Theriverfilledupwithsmoketoday,

longwhitedragonslidover

thestraittobelay

uponthewater

Chug-alugofthetugboats

putteredattherottingweir

andtheteatreeburnt

kissedthekayaker

pausingforbreath

somegreyinterim

cautiouschange

Bubblingbeneaththeriversurface

incredulous,theseasonalrift

gaveapolitewave

Thisway,thisway

youfindnothingelsesaid

butdrinkalatebrewtea

onthefibroshackporch

It’sanewmoonbutstrangelybright

lookingacrossthesteelbridge

totheorangeglow

ofstreetlights

Waiting

97

.

Istoppedcaringaboutthetreatedlogs

theyburnbetterinmyhouse,

toxinsandoil

Throwthemon

likeananimal’sstripedcoat

Whichisthestripe?

Whichisthecoat?

.

Leapingdownthesandstoneescarpment

withyou,wasn’tpoetry

Theleaflessmirageofavalleyburned

fireisnotajoke

Onthewayup,puffingandtyrannical

fishbonefernandsundownglow

Inyoureyes,suchdevastation

guffawingsmokeoverthehighway

Nogoingforwardorsideways

Asthelandownersaid,oneyearlater

ItallchangedonDecember21st

.

98

It’sthattimeofyearagain

purplesky

somuchforgotten,walking

andthefreshgreengrowth

sproutsiridescent

oncharredmemory

Disbelief,howtheplace

haschanged

thefirecameroaring,upvalley

refusingtoleave

perchedonhand

asingleman

withpumpspray

maybewe’llneverseetheendofthis

Butthewaterferns

haveflourished,seedlings

plushlikecarpet

Staringwide-eyedatthemeanderingcreek

99

WATER

Raincascadesfordays,noend

Thiswaslifeonthemountain:

grey,foggy,damp

Drivingout–centrifugal–fromthecity

skyloosenedandthecycle

rotatedmoreeasily

wet,wet.

Basil,parsley,mint

marigolds,drinkingthirstily

psychedelicradishes

withringsofgrowth

thesoilclumpedandwhen

thecliffofthemountainwassoaked

itbroke.

.

No-onewasprepared.

Trackclosed,

peaches

onTanya’streeswollentwice-sized

100

Following

atideofdroughtdeaths,

ontheriver

downplain

thedepartmentpanicked

and60,000Murraycodwerebred,andreleased–

Darling

.

Gushing,

flowinglikeacelebration

kegsofbeer,onthetide

boppin’past

Marrickvillecityinswollenflood.

Afteryears

barebones

spongybutgrowingoutward

theribscaressedthelungs.

Blameit

onthelack

ofvirginforests

pastoralindecency

irrigationtheft

thebodypillagedandwaylaid…

101

Todaywewilldrink,

tomorrow,hunger

.

WhydidEuropeans

buildhomes

withoutrain

collection?

InSydneyCove,

mudcottages

andwater

streamingloosely

downbigbank

Well,we’lldrink

liquorinstead,thieves

suckitlikeyoustoleit

Drinkinthegreatemptiness

.

Climbing,up

throughtheleakingswamp

Imadeit

it’sjustnowdusk

Faded

thedisappearinglives

102

ofdaylight

returnmetomybreath

Chapped

abouttheindustry

butpersuasiontocontinue

waterfire

airearth

103

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