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Absolutely Revolting

States of Poetry ACT - Series Three

Series Three of the ACT States of Poetry anthology is edited by Jen Webb and features poetry by Paul Collis, Lesley Lebkowicz, Miranda Lello, Paul Munden, Mark O'Connor, and Anita Patel. Read Jen Webb's introduction to the anthology here.

Free Article: Yes
Contents Category: States of Poetry - Poems
Custom Article Title: 'Mr. Darwin's Room (National Museum of Australia)' by Anita Patel

'A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.'
Charles Darwin

Inside a structure
of rainbow loops and angles
spangle whirling
over a cellophane lake
is Mr. Darwin’s room,
exactly as he left it:
cards tucked in the mirror,
pictures on the wall,
a basket by the fire,
unassuming clutter.
And all around the mutter
as foreign children stop and count
his instruments and books
(microscopes and jars)
odd playthings of a lifetime.

Outside …
a blue untroubled sky
rustles gently in the water
antipodean parrots flit
and settle on the grass –
their ancestors are under glass
inside this unfamiliar place –

and an old man’s chair is empty.

Anita Patel

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Free Article: Yes
Contents Category: States of Poetry - Poems
Custom Article Title: 'Women's Talk' by Anita Patel

Have you noticed
how the purl and plain of
women’s talk is tangled
and snarled
when a man enters the room?
Suddenly stitches are dropped
irretrievably
in the middle of a pattern
worked on for hours
and the cosy blend of colours
dark and light is
snagged and knotted
beyond repair.
The ropy twist
of mannish yarn
weaves its way
harsh and relentless
into the whispered silk
of confidences,
ruining the rich brocade
of spoken moments
(embroidered daintily
with truth and terror)
and the fine cobweb lace
of lies half told.
No deft fingers
can save the garment now
it falls
in a cambric crush
next to the broken loom –
the last threads hang loose
a ravelment of bombast
and vainglory.

Anita Patel

Published in Block 9

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Free Article: Yes
Contents Category: States of Poetry - Poems
Custom Article Title: 'Wajah/Muka' by Anita Patel

Two words for face in my language:
Wajah from the Arabic wajh
rolls off the tongue sweetly
and melts like honey
in our mouths …
Wajah – a fitting sound for
the cherished tenderness of
a human face …
And yet …
I prefer the honest drum beat
of muka. An island word
harvested from salty seas and
fertile earth, blown through palm fronds
and tossed about in monsoon rain-
coconut redolent thud of pestle in
mortar – mu–ka …
hammer hard syllables
chiselling the naked face
of my Malay ancestors …
When you lift the soft, saffron
silk mask of wajah …
there is only muka.

Anita Patel

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Free Article: Yes
Contents Category: States of Poetry - Poems
Custom Article Title: 'Winter Pageant' by Anita Patel

Through damp drifts of umber
ducks parade past the National Museum.
A feathered armada,
flashing iridescent epaulettes,
they salute themselves
in plate glass windows.

And a flutter of parrots –
emerald and rose
hails their arrival ...

a flurry of silken scarves
flung in admiration
landing gently on the
ice pale grass.

Anita Patel

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Free Article: Yes
Contents Category: States of Poetry - Poems
Custom Article Title: 'Cane Cutter's Bride: Museum of Fiji' by Anita Patel

Suddenly you accost me
with silent sepia eyes –
a sallow smudge of newsprint
hidden among weapons and bones.
You shrink and flutter
like a frightened bird
          trapped
in the crimson mesh
of your wedding sari.
I am caught
in your dark gaze
in the tattered trace
of hands and face:
ragged remnants
of a fragile gift
carefully wrapped
and dispatched
with good wishes
to an alien land.

Anita Patel

Published in The Canberra Times, 29 September 2007

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