Featured Writer: Les Wicks

Desert

He is like this town,
a coiled certainty.
Lazy too, it's the ruminants who worry that feed
prepared destiny their
carnivores can grin when
each offering is a barb.

She is settled as the soil, that
juice to a duststorm has moved on &
the land lands like a leaf.
The promises have been heard
an insurgent quiet.

So many worthless things.
There is air to spare.

Les Wicks' books are The Vanguard Sleeps In (Glandular, 1981), Cannibals (Rochford St, 1985), Tickle (Island, 1993), Nitty Gritty (Five Islands, 1997), The Ways of Waves (Sidewalk, 2000) & Appetites of Light (Presspress, 2002). "(He)assembles an amazing cast of people in recognizable often dark places. With fine detail, their domestic & working lives are brilliantly portrayed." He has performed at festivals, schools, prisons etc. He runs workshops across Australia & is editor of Meuse Press which focuses on poetry outreach projects.

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