Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Series Two - Victoria | 'A Father's Silences' by Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Victoria - Series Two • 06 June 2018

Were you with a girl at the footy?my father asks while weighing downon a milker. His large, freckled handlike a stone on the claw of the machinesdraining a back quarter of an old Jerseyreluctant to give. I lean against a postdarkened and polished by our shoulders.No, I was just going for a walk. He looksat me, adds, I saw you behind the trees.My mouth begins to dry and my heartpicks up its beat. N ... (read more)

States of Poetry Series Two - Victoria | 'The Things They Carry' by Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Victoria - Series Two • 06 June 2018

‘The things they carried were largely determined by necessity.’ Tim O’Brien The beeping of horns, the relentless waves of scooters – a whine that spirals to a high-pitched roarscooting down alleys and footpathsflowing like oil around taxis, through roundaboutsacross bridges. Nobody has time for burnouts. The sound of the streets is the growl of purposethe 6 am momentum of fathers and son ... (read more)

States of Poetry Series Two - Victoria | 'Farmer's Wife' by Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Victoria - Series Two • 06 June 2018

Cracks in the clay, locusts flittering over bleached stalksold couches in the herringbone, ribbons of bird shit down the walls. She married into the district, thin as a whispera woman who was summoned to the front rows at Mass. Each day the wind passes, paddocks of rye grass sway.She smiled through luncheons, gatherings made the small talk that fertilised a district.This year’s heifers watchi ... (read more)

States of Poetry Series Two - Victoria | 'The Internet Is Poorer Without You' by Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Victoria - Series Two • 06 June 2018

In memory of Max Richards Somehow you found the articles and poemsI needed to read.Your key word searches driven by connection,of passing it on.Whether it be through the nodes of ADSL2or the poetry of Heaney, Murray, or MacFarlane’snature writing,whether you be in Doncaster or Seattleor your shelves of books and manilla foldersat La Trobe,you were always passing it on. Whateveryou found for me ... (read more)

States of Poetry Series Two - Victoria | 'Driving to Debating' by Brendan Ryan

States of Poetry Victoria - Series Two • 06 June 2018

Lights over the rail yards are sparklersthat never die down. Every day is a drug test day. All that’s left at Fordis the security lights, shadows on the pedestrian overpass.George Pell is refusing to leave Romawhere girls were once named after their fatherswho could, if so desired, sell them at fourteeninto slavery. George is cantankerousas the music I listen to is old, out of date,timeless. Geo ... (read more)

'Camellias', a new poem by Brendan Ryan

April 2014, no. 360 • 27 March 2014

I take a straw broom to the damp leaves on the side path.The concrete pavers are stained and dirty as they have beenfor much of the year. Stooping allows me to see ... (read more)

Brendan Ryan reviews 'Fire Diary' by Mark Tredinnick

September 2011, no. 334 • 22 August 2011

Mark Tredinnick’s much-anticipated first collection of poetry, Fire Diary, is an examination of place and how to respond to it. The title provides a clue to the form of the book; many poems chart the daily exigencies of living within nature. More importantly, the collection explores the moods and aspirations of the self, of a person grappling with meaning in life, and with language itself. In th ... (read more)

'Philip Hodgins – A Dream', a new poem by Brendan Ryan

February 2011, no. 328 • 04 May 2011

Philip Hodgins – A Dream   I walk toward a paddock bordered by cypress trees. Philip Hodgins is on a tractor harrowing forty acres. I can’t see his face but I know it is him methodically going about his business, navigating the terrain, driving into a diminishing square, like the farmer in Dispossessed mowing lucerne, driving rabbits and snakes into a disappearing centre. Except here, w ... (read more)