YOU CAN BE CRUEL TO A BEE (Lizz Murphy)

 

With the open eave  of  her scarf  she  catches  the  tree snags blue
winter  Skylight ceiling  of  criss and cross  In  the naming of them
colours empty of themselves  is  this  a quote she no longer knows
Straight  off  pavement licked  lyrics  you  are  the outlaw you split
dawn   shoot   footloose   tread   threads   they  cut  out   his   heart
[heart/art]  place  it  on  the  dead   man’s   chest   that’s  the  show
weighed out  in  small  portions  organs attuned to a tune  There is
the pulse of stars  the  screech of  their  last stop her life in another
universe  a  family  shard visiting from one time or another  in  the
same time  Earthing  when  she  is most  There are moments when
this land opens fetches her in  who  knows  why it would  be so but
can you feel it?  The world spins before each  crisis  she  thinks  the
fog is too  grey  there  is  mass  manipulation the lie is hard as knee
caps   shattered   truth   a   curious   man   children  of   troubles   A
baptismal  veil   of   mist  stretches  from   this   sea   line  to  that  a
functional fantasy a fanciful fiction a fictional function rising  from
the  ground  the  ploughman’s  bones  the storm’s surge the cyclical
incident the nerve of  the tree its stubborn grain its spicy centre the
end  of   its   flower  cannonade  You can be cruel to a bee  Someone
said  Radio  again   that  other  world   seeping   through   open   car
windows  cracked  back  doors  passing  rooms  There they go again


DSCN0153_2Lizz Murphy has published 12 books of different kinds. Her seven poetry titles include Portraits: 54 Poems and Six Hundred Dollars (PressPress), Walk the Wildly (Picaro), Stop Your Cryin (Island) and Two Lips Went Shopping (Spinifex). Her eighth poetry title, Shebirds, is forthcoming (PressPress). She is widely published in Australia and overseas. Lizz was born in Belfast, Ireland and has lived in the NSW/Canberra Region for a long time.

Lizz’s awards include: the 2011 Rosemary Dobson Poetry Prize (co-winner), the 2006 CAPO Singapore Airlines Travel Award, the 1998 ACT Creative Arts Fellowship for Literature, and the 1994 Anutech Poetry Prize. Special mentions include: Highly Commended – 2013 Blake Poetry Prize, and finalist – UK’s 2013 & 2014 Aesthetica Poetry Competitions.

You can read more of Lizz’s poetry and find out about her upcoming events on her website, Lizz Murphy: A poet’s slant, and on her blog.