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Absolutely Revolting
Peter Porter Poetry Prize

2010 ABR Poetry Prize shortlist

by Ynez Sanz, Diane Fahey, Philip Salom, Jillian Pattinson, Anthony Lawrence •
April 2010, no. 320

Taken as Required

by Ynes Sanz

An age ago, ill-matched,
ignorant but willing,
we set the rules.
‘Step by Step’, we said. ‘No Bullshit.’
Today, thinking of something else
I stumbled across the grey metal bracelet
you looped over that stick of a wrist
where your thin blood stained the skin
to resemble an antique map or a bad tattoo
(like the one they inked on for that photo shoot in the ’50s).

 


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Comments

Noeleen
Wednesday, 29 July 2020 10:49
I'm only just getting into poetry, having never got it
at school. Reading this poem gave me visions as stories of substance. I think of artists such as Leonard Cohen - ah, Various Positions.

When you're force-fed classics as a kid, you're inclined to regurgitate them with a
bitter
bitter
taste
'cause you hate school and "home" and teachers 'n all.

So thank you, Anthony Lawrence, for letting me see
what is from what is not.

That chalk-dust in its wake, I'm seeing it
still.

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