The Writing Experiment by Hazel Smith

and chill the way. sadly brother time gives no clues but a shadow.

celluloid rushes side by side, nature baptises back alley temples.

trembling fingers and shivering flesh. coward! the truth is so stead-

fast and sharp. uphold me time. the enemy refuses to budge.

I’m

bending backwards. spine explodes. a coiled spring into white wing

and falling flying to another life another lover. figments burn soak

bury and chill my way. sister sadly I’m finding no clues but a shadow.

celluloid rushes end to end. nature’s baptism in back alley temple.

trembling fingers touch shivering flesh. courage so sharp steadfast

and true. uphold me. time the enemy is refusing to budge.

‘White Christmas Eve’ (Prendergast 1991)

Richard James Allen is a poet who has lived and worked extensively in both
Australia and America. His prose poem, ‘Interviews for the Freedom of
Dreams’ (of which an extract is given below), might also seem to be gen-
erated through phrase manipulation. Each phrase is a striking image, an
evocative little world in itself. But all the phrases also network together to
produce a panorama of ideas about history, language, society and identity:
this would be difficult to achieve in a poem committed to a sharp but
narrower focus. Notice how the phrases surge relentlessly forward, partly
through substitution of some words and retention of others. Note also
how sound, though used unobtrusively, is an important factor: ‘bill’ sug-
gests ‘bizarre’, ‘clearing house’ suggests ‘conspiracy’. This creates cohesion
between the phrases and makes them seem less disparate:

Example 1.19

a beginning that now seems arbitrary, an end that will seem

arbitrary. a bill of hope. a bill of tragedy. a bizarre series of

countries we keep passing through like mirrors. a carnival of mixed

messages. a clearing house for the emotions. a conspiracy of legs.

a course in applied moods. a family of books. a flag flapping

against the prose. a halo of history. a halo of words. a history of

imagination. a history of sewerage. a history of thunderclaps.

a hotel in the mouth. a magical connection to unhappiness. a

mathematical land where the pieces add up. a memory of ladders.

a peach in the road. a prolonged disassociation of the naming

capacity. a revised history of paradise. a theory that includes itself.

a walk through footage. a symphony of pure minds. a truly lonely

book. an alphabet stairway. an encyclopedia of images. an

Playing with language, running with referents 15