Western Australian Poets Inc. (WA Poets) were kind enough to include two of my poems in the December 2022 issue of their online journal, Creatrix (#59). Peter Jeffery and Mike Greenacre were the selectors for this issue.

My two poems were titled We Met in a Valley and Potential Energy, with the latter poem being a response to Jeffrey Smart’s painting, The Oil Drums.

Jeffrey Smart (1921-2013) was an Australian realist artist who painted modern, urban landscapes. He paid close attention to the geometric composition of each painting, used bright colours and often included a solitary figure in the scene.

The Oil Drums was painted in 1992. It depicts a collection of drums that have been stacked and left in a field. In the foreground, a man holds a trumpet to his lips, while in the background a line of distant apartment blocks sits beneath a grey sky. You can view the painting here.

Potential Energy

If a shrill note from a trumpet
were to unsettle
those casually stacked drums,
if they were to tumble and rumble
apart, the way hollow barrels of thunder
roll, unchecked, around an oily sky;
what a waste that would be.
Their potency, lost in one brief cacophony
of movement and disarray.
But until that note is played, the potential
energy of this fickle world remains
unexpended.

Creatrix is produced four times per year. Each issue contains two sections: one containing haiku while the other contains longer forms of poetry.

Creatrix #59 can be found here, while my poems are located here. Please explore the back issues which offer a large selection of poetry for you to enjoy.