Iconoclast
May 2025
Iconoclast
May 2025
- Editors’ Note (Verity La Reborn) Issue One: ICONOCLAST
After years of silence, Verity La returns. This is our first issue since the journal’s Managing Editor, Michele Seminara, endured a ... - The Curse of the Man Who Could See the Little Fish at the Bottom of the Ocean (Simon Leys)For Hanfang Since the Beijing massacres, the question has already been put bluntly to me several times: “Why were most ...
- The Skin I’m In (Iona Italia)All my life, I have been accused of having the wrong skin colour. My body’s wrapper—loosening and crinkling slightly around ...
- The Emperor’s Return (Anne Casey)Just one piece—they will never notice he whinnied as he secreted the piece in his pocket just before he ordered ...
- The World’s Longest Daisy Chain (Jenny Lindsay)The first time I was complicit in inflicting public humiliation on someone has left a strong enough impression on me ...
- Desolation Songs (Robbie Coburn)Karma Indiscriminate rain and sunlight. muted light, the room instantly full of bodies — the way they pull up your ...
- Back on ‘Zac (Nina Paley)Why I am returning to my regular dose of Prozac after 2 years of tapering off A few days ago, ...
- Monostich for a time of resistance (Amanda Anastasi)Within the tyrant, a tripped over child. The stuck are full of words. The mirror reveals my first and last ...
- Reading and Writing in Exile (Mammad Aidani)A short philosophical-poetical text I gaze at the mirror, and I say to myself: You were born, There is no ...
- As a Mother (Mandy Sayer)Mrs Vickers was watching the six o’clock news, as she did every night, while sipping a Guinness and lemonade shandy. ...
- Eggs of Freedom (Nina Sanadze)If you’re not a runner, get out of bed the moment you open your eyes. Throw on your ripped jeans ...
- it wasn’t that the yoga teacher shouldn’t have a car (Ali Whitelock)just it was a porsche / & the registration was ...
- Lesbians: the canaries in the mine (Susan Hawthorne)I would suggest that when lesbians become victims of attack, they are a signal. They are the canaries in the ...
- Trust: A Fractured Fable (Jeanne Ryckmans)MARCH 2020, SYDNEY A magistrate finalised an uncontested Apprehended Violence Order for two years against the Irish Professor under the ...
- I am a Palestinian Child (Badaoui El-Hage & Zeina Issa)Seventy years and spring has not yet arrived. For seventy years, our windows and doors brought forth revolt after revolt ...
- Threads of Silent Longing (Hasti Abbasi)Bahar drinks a glass of water. A soft sensation starts to stir inside her. Still within her regular cycle, yet ...
- This Land Is Mine (Nina Paley)Who’s Killing Who? A Viewer’s Guide Early Man This generic “cave man” represents the first human settlers in Israel/Canaan/the ...
- When Feminism Becomes a Tool for Assimilation (Nathalie Martinek)You’re at a women’s empowerment event. Everyone on stage speaks fluently and eloquently. The language is crisp, the tone measured, ...
- Heathpack (Gregory Day)The birds live a parallel existence to us in this place. Their comings and goings. Chords and clusters. Three pelicans ...
- Griftivism (Michele Seminara)My first exposure to what I now call “griftivism,” a hybrid of grifting and Critical Social Justice activism, occurred in ...
- Damnatio Memoriae (Nina Power)Well, the Romans thought they could kill a man every record, after death (you could kill him too) zero He ...
- To Sing of War (Catherine McKinnon)December 1944 1 Lotte Nialu She hears singing: one lone voice at first, clear and resonant, a tenor, then others ...
- THE PASSION OF ANDREI (Nathan Dunne)after A. Tarkovsky I was born of cold hands in the light of the cells. I left the arms of ...
- The False Dissension Over ‘Islamophobia’: an Iranian outlook (Ali Beikzadeh)‘Cultural relativism commands us to see what we call our values as simple prejudices; the beliefs of a particular tribe ...
- Analysis (Yvette Henry Holt)In the Middle of Analysis In the middle of the night in the middle of a shared pandemic I lay ...
- Duende (Magi Gibson)The Girl with Eyes like Dying Stars We sit in Costa, she bristling with the blue hair of her new-found ...
- As Satellites Replace Stars (Joshua Dabelstein)The commodification of the cosmos is having a profound impact on humanity itself On Monday March 3, 2024, at 2:05pm ...
- Lost Within Myself (Mohammad Ali Maleki)Mother, see the dust of my lonely sorrow — I need your prayers; I am drowning in my own swamp. ...
- Only One Son (Magan Magan)Once Mohamed had a dream about his son. The dream kept him up until the early hours of the morning. ...
- Lines on Maps and Foreheads: Three Poems (Paul Mitchell)Ode to dismantle a poetry god I saw you bathing on the roof with all your Greek myths. Medusa was ...
- Rattle up the Road (Siân Darling)Flesh and fat were luxuries of childhood, in that window before starvation was understood. My loose, thickened skin — coloured ...
- The Orchardist (Claire Miranda Roberts)Rigid and bony like an orchard in winter— a single tree can produce forty types of fruit. We can collapse ...
- Heimlich Unheimlich (Sieglinde Karl-Spence and Hazel Smith)(To enlarge the images, please enter full-screen mode on your device and zoom in) A Note from Author Hazel ...
- Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You (Koraly Dimitriadis)Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You Shut up and we’ll be good to you Be good and we’ll ...
- The Leaves (Jacqueline Rule)The morning sky is flat, a smooth grey pebble. There’s a row of trees across from the house where the ...
- Courage (Maxim Bishev)Inspired by ‘Mourn Not the Dead’ by Ralph Chaplin Grieve not the innocent who lie In cobbled cells, Awaiting execution. ...
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- Editors’ Note (Verity La Reborn) Issue One: ICONOCLASTAfter years of silence, Verity La returns. This is our first issue since the journal’s Managing Editor, Michele Seminara, endured a ...
- The Curse of the Man Who Could See the Little Fish at the Bottom of the Ocean (Simon Leys)For Hanfang Since the Beijing massacres, the question has already been put bluntly to me several times: “Why were most ...
- The Skin I’m In (Iona Italia)All my life, I have been accused of having the wrong skin colour. My body’s wrapper—loosening and crinkling slightly around ...
- The Emperor’s Return (Anne Casey)Just one piece—they will never notice he whinnied as he secreted the piece in his pocket just before he ordered ...
- The World’s Longest Daisy Chain (Jenny Lindsay)The first time I was complicit in inflicting public humiliation on someone has left a strong enough impression on me ...
- Desolation Songs (Robbie Coburn)Karma Indiscriminate rain and sunlight. muted light, the room instantly full of bodies — the way they pull up your ...
- Back on ‘Zac (Nina Paley)Why I am returning to my regular dose of Prozac after 2 years of tapering off A few days ago, ...
- Monostich for a time of resistance (Amanda Anastasi)Within the tyrant, a tripped over child. The stuck are full of words. The mirror reveals my first and last ...
- Reading and Writing in Exile (Mammad Aidani)A short philosophical-poetical text I gaze at the mirror, and I say to myself: You were born, There is no ...
- As a Mother (Mandy Sayer)Mrs Vickers was watching the six o’clock news, as she did every night, while sipping a Guinness and lemonade shandy. ...
- Eggs of Freedom (Nina Sanadze)If you’re not a runner, get out of bed the moment you open your eyes. Throw on your ripped jeans ...
- it wasn’t that the yoga teacher shouldn’t have a car (Ali Whitelock)just it was a porsche / & the registration was ...
- Lesbians: the canaries in the mine (Susan Hawthorne)I would suggest that when lesbians become victims of attack, they are a signal. They are the canaries in the ...
- Trust: A Fractured Fable (Jeanne Ryckmans)MARCH 2020, SYDNEY A magistrate finalised an uncontested Apprehended Violence Order for two years against the Irish Professor under the ...
- I am a Palestinian Child (Badaoui El-Hage & Zeina Issa)Seventy years and spring has not yet arrived. For seventy years, our windows and doors brought forth revolt after revolt ...
- Threads of Silent Longing (Hasti Abbasi)Bahar drinks a glass of water. A soft sensation starts to stir inside her. Still within her regular cycle, yet ...
- This Land Is Mine (Nina Paley)Who’s Killing Who? A Viewer’s Guide Early Man This generic “cave man” represents the first human settlers in Israel/Canaan/the ...
- When Feminism Becomes a Tool for Assimilation (Nathalie Martinek)You’re at a women’s empowerment event. Everyone on stage speaks fluently and eloquently. The language is crisp, the tone measured, ...
- Heathpack (Gregory Day)The birds live a parallel existence to us in this place. Their comings and goings. Chords and clusters. Three pelicans ...
- Griftivism (Michele Seminara)My first exposure to what I now call “griftivism,” a hybrid of grifting and Critical Social Justice activism, occurred in ...
- Damnatio Memoriae (Nina Power)Well, the Romans thought they could kill a man every record, after death (you could kill him too) zero He ...
- To Sing of War (Catherine McKinnon)December 1944 1 Lotte Nialu She hears singing: one lone voice at first, clear and resonant, a tenor, then others ...
- THE PASSION OF ANDREI (Nathan Dunne)after A. Tarkovsky I was born of cold hands in the light of the cells. I left the arms of ...
- The False Dissension Over ‘Islamophobia’: an Iranian outlook (Ali Beikzadeh)‘Cultural relativism commands us to see what we call our values as simple prejudices; the beliefs of a particular tribe ...
- Analysis (Yvette Henry Holt)In the Middle of Analysis In the middle of the night in the middle of a shared pandemic I lay ...
- Duende (Magi Gibson)The Girl with Eyes like Dying Stars We sit in Costa, she bristling with the blue hair of her new-found ...
- As Satellites Replace Stars (Joshua Dabelstein)The commodification of the cosmos is having a profound impact on humanity itself On Monday March 3, 2024, at 2:05pm ...
- Lost Within Myself (Mohammad Ali Maleki)Mother, see the dust of my lonely sorrow — I need your prayers; I am drowning in my own swamp. ...
- Only One Son (Magan Magan)Once Mohamed had a dream about his son. The dream kept him up until the early hours of the morning. ...
- Lines on Maps and Foreheads: Three Poems (Paul Mitchell)Ode to dismantle a poetry god I saw you bathing on the roof with all your Greek myths. Medusa was ...
- Rattle up the Road (Siân Darling)Flesh and fat were luxuries of childhood, in that window before starvation was understood. My loose, thickened skin — coloured ...
- The Orchardist (Claire Miranda Roberts)Rigid and bony like an orchard in winter— a single tree can produce forty types of fruit. We can collapse ...
- Heimlich Unheimlich (Sieglinde Karl-Spence and Hazel Smith)(To enlarge the images, please enter full-screen mode on your device and zoom in) A Note from Author Hazel ...
- Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You (Koraly Dimitriadis)Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You Shut up and we’ll be good to you Be good and we’ll ...
- The Leaves (Jacqueline Rule)The morning sky is flat, a smooth grey pebble. There’s a row of trees across from the house where the ...
- Courage (Maxim Bishev)Inspired by ‘Mourn Not the Dead’ by Ralph Chaplin Grieve not the innocent who lie In cobbled cells, Awaiting execution. ...
The Australian literary scene and beyond is under attack. Tune in to our podcast, where poets Magan Magan and Michele Seminara explore the hostile nature of woke ideology and its attack on freedom of expression in the arts.
Tune in to the UNpersoned Podcast where editor Michele Seminara unpacks what's happening in the arts and literary scenes with guests from Australia and around the world.
The Vault
VERITY LA POETRY PODCAST Episode 7: David StavangerDAVID STAVANGER: In this edition of the Verity La Poetry Podcast, our Podcast Producer Alice Allan and Clozapine Clinic Editor Tim Heffernan talk with David Stavanger about the launch of ... Read More
Selective Mutism <br>(Alison Bennett)she is fight or flight volcanic dynamite a raging accident that was never meant to happen so she begins to swallow her voice into pretend smiles her body now a ... Read More
‘We’ll Always Have Paris’ (Devika Brendon)Humphrey Bogart says this to Ingrid Bergman in the film Casablanca. A great exit line, as he farewells the love of his life with supreme gallantry and apparent nonchalance. Paris ... Read More
BLOODSHOT HEART (Reviewed by Andrew L. Urban)In a world where the difference between reality and fantasy can be hard to discern, Hans, a middle-aged driving instructor, attempts to shake off the manipulative grasp of his Italian ... Read More
Heimlich Unheimlich (Sieglinde Karl-Spence and Hazel Smith)(To enlarge the images, please enter full-screen mode on your device and zoom in) A Note from Author Hazel Smith These images are extracts from the latter part of ... Read More
The Vault
Dissociative Mythology (Eleanor Claire)lie to me tell me you always / knew my karst / topography, my limestone bones / tell me you seduced from me / the cyphers to my unbecoming / ... Read More- VERITY LA POETRY PODCAST Episode 13: Jordie AlbistonJORDIE ALBISTON: In this episode of the Verity La Poetry Podcast, Podcast Producer Alice Allan and Poetry Co-editor Robbie Coburn talk with Jordie Albiston about the relationship between poetry and ... Read More
How to Knit a Human (Anna Jacobson)Cravings I don’t wear a watch in hospital. I count time by meals. A nurse hands me a Milky Way bar after ECT. I hold it in my lap; look ... Read More
Take Two (Ariana Moulton)For Anne Sexton, who was prescribed poetry Take two, and call me in the morning. 5 mg of metaphor and 1200 of iambic pentameter. Take with food, write each ... Read More
Measure (Eileen Chong)Everything we write will be used against us or against those we love. ‘North American Time’, Adrienne Rich The innocence of cornflowers — a dimpled, wheel-thrown cup. Glazed on the inside. ... Read More
