Watching the World Turn got published!

'Watching the World Turn' got published in Five Bells and I didn't find this out until my copy (I'm a member of the Poets Union... fitting? I think so) arrived in the mail. Can you imagine my excitement when I flick though the pages and see my name and poem published? I got pretty damned excited to say the least, and dad would agree since he was standing right in front of me.

Weirdly, I can't help but wonder why they didn't notify me that I was being published, since the Poets Union website details that that will happen once my poem is selected for publication? OH WELL. WHO CARES? I got published! Very very happy! And what makes me even more happy is that after me and Dad found out about my publication, he went out to get beer and apparently told everyone who he saw that one of my poems had been published. I love that he is proud of me, what more could a son want? Funnily enough, he told the person who the poem is about that I got it published, but she doesn't know anything about being the subject of the poem. Irony anyone?

I actually don't think I've posted the poem on my blog, so I've posted it further below. First though, a little analysis. Written in 2007 as 'The Dusty Frail', the poem is about not being able to offer any assistance to one of my best friends (by their request) who was going through a difficult period in there life. It has a number of companion poems, being written about an event during my last years of highschool (which is when I started writing poetry). For your reference, these poems include: 'The Sitting Room', 'Daysrping Leaves', 'Magnolias', 'Quiet', 'The Narrative' and 'Their Nests Were Made of Glass'.

The original poem 'The Dusty Frail' mainly consisted of the 'Question stanzas' that make up the body of the poem. It was written before my computer crapped itself and deleted the majority of the poems that I had written up until then, so when I rewrote it, I managed to remember most of the body, but the first and last stanzas I added on and I believe it is a much more coherent poem with these additions.

The title comes from directly from a line the Powderfinger song 'Sunsets' which is mine and the subject of the poem's favourite song. See why it makes a better title than 'The Dusty Frail'? I don't even remember why I originally called it 'The Dusty Frail'...

Watching the World Turn

It was 3:27PM, and
we were hip-to-hip
on the school bus that
was today an oven.
You said nothing to me but
I still noticed
Your blue eyes radiant
Against the fires
Of the afternoon sun. They glistened
As birds of sorrow that could not fly:
A swirling, darting dance
Of tears and frowns.

Why not let me build
The bridge to cross
The haunted waters within?

Why not open your heart to words
Drawn from the well of sturdy
Legs and arms?

Why not pick up the pieces
Of your shattered past
And throw them to the stars?

But I guess you're happy
To merely watch the
Sunset set sail across
The treacherous seas
Of the universe, and I
Am just
An obliging friend.