Word Power - a taste of Dennis Wild's poetry

This poem has no belly button
no passport
no bill of ownership
It arrived just hours ago
in a crate marked 'Inflammable',
your name
stamped on the outside.

This poem has ambitions
it's going places
your address is tattooed
just below where
its umbilicus should be.
How do you feel about that?

If you catch sight of this poem
shuffling down your street
carrying a flickering lantern
towards your matchwood hideaway
don't call the riot squad
don't dive down the cellar stairs
avoidance is such a shabby response.

This poem wants to mess you around
to gift your tidy life
with rollicking absurdity
with gut-busting hilarity
with tears of cleansing adversity.

Put it this way

It's quite simple

Your hour has come.

Dennis Wild. Just North of Bewilderment. Published by Picaro Press, PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW 2282, Australia. www.picaropress.com

Where words take us

Words took me to Jamison for an evening of Dennis Wild's rich storytelling on Friday night. Stories from around the world challenged and entertained us: a loon helping a blind Inuit recover his sight, a Japanese storyteller uncovering a voice deep within. The end of each story was only the beginning of a process of learning and expansion as we thought about and unravelled the fabric of the tale, and postulated possible futures.

Melbourne poet Peter Bakowski launched Dennis's first collection of poetry Just North of Bewilderment and urged him to read some for us. They were amusing but powerful poems, which made the audience laugh - after a pause to relish a twist or insight.

Peter also read some of his own poetry. Peter defamiliarises the domestic and everyday and suprises us with fresh visions of daily life.

The loon in Dennis' story urged the Inuit to go and do what must be done. I too must do what must be done.......read, study, write, look deeply into each day.