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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
In this stunning, visionary collection, A. Frances Johnson offers cautionary threnodies that muse on environment and the endurance of theme park notions of the natural, in spheres poetic and beyond. This is a richly varied collection: among moving lyrics of loss are dystopian visions, such as the last living bird with its wings and vocal chords sludged by the oily depredations of Exxon Valdez, hummingbird drones indiscriminately raiding and killing, and hybrid bird-humans blurring the boundaries between nature and culture to survive.
Notes
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The collection is divided into three parts: Part 1 'Wind-Up Future' (13-29), Part 2 'Wind-Up Present' (33-54), Part 3 'Wind-Up Past' (57-78).
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Dedication: For Roma. Tom and Anthony.
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Epigraph: the poet vanished, in the vanished forest, among his brightly tinted extinct birds.. Judith Wright 'Extinct Birds'
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Epigraph: Why not write a poem about the wind-up bird? The idea struck me but the first line wouldn't come. Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Contents
* Contents derived from the
Glebe,
Hobart City,
Central Hobart,
Hobart,
Southeast Tasmania,
Tasmania,:Puncher and Wattmann
, 2012 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
- Hummingbird Dronei"Open the cage now", single work poetry (p. 13)
- Hatcheryi"In the microaviary", single work poetry (p. 13-15)
- Microaviary, sequence poetry (p. 13-16)
- Raven Dronei"Troops toss Raven drones", single work poetry (p. 15-16)
- Hummingbird Versus Raveni"The Next month the Hummingbird and then the Raven went AWOL", single work poetry (p. 16)
- Softened Citiesi"In the west, New York was suddenly pure confection", single work poetry (p. 17)
- Pajero Futurei"We thought ourselves smart as bombs", single work poetry (p. 18)
- Remotei"Each night I orbit with you", single work poetry (p. 19-20)
- Coal and Wateri"Now the last line won't irrigate", single work poetry (p. 21-22)
-
Listen Centuryi"Listen to the dead",
single work
poetry
(p. 23-24)
Note: I will listen with all the silence this world can bear. Judy Johnson
- Bethlehemi"In the years coming after there was nothing", single work poetry (p. 25)
- The Rain-Catchersi"Once every ten years it will rain briefly", single work poetry (p. 26)
- Future Arki"You pace the deck, a bead-worried pilgrim", single work poetry (p. 27-28)
- The Last Birdi"If I was the last bird", single work poetry (p. 29)
- The Will of Birdsi"I climb the grey stone stairs", extract poetry (p. 33)
- Gang-Gang: Callocephalon Fimbriatumi"By afternoon, they have ploughed the dead fields", single work poetry (p. 34)
-
Fontanellei"Not a complicated rhyme scheme like a villanelle",
single work
poetry
(p. 35)
Note: Dedication: For Grace
- Falli"I practised falling early on:", single work poetry (p. 36-37)
- Hawki"In showman’s claws", single work poetry (p. 40-41)
- Two Definitions of Softnessi"O great galah", single work poetry (p. 42)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Song of the Wind-up Birdman
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 17 no. 2 2013;
— Review of The Wind-Up Birdman of Moorabool Street 2012 selected work poetry -
A. Frances Johnson : The Wind-up Birdman of Moorabool Street
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Review , vol. 7 no. 2012;
— Review of The Wind-Up Birdman of Moorabool Street 2012 selected work poetry
-
A. Frances Johnson : The Wind-up Birdman of Moorabool Street
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Review , vol. 7 no. 2012;
— Review of The Wind-Up Birdman of Moorabool Street 2012 selected work poetry -
Song of the Wind-up Birdman
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 17 no. 2 2013;
— Review of The Wind-Up Birdman of Moorabool Street 2012 selected work poetry
Awards
Last amended 13 Oct 2020 15:13:26