Gina Mercer
No More Garish Postcards
posed for yet another Hawaiian sunset, Tasmania
your luminous sky-scape
cheapened polyester tropical
by ignorant colour reproduction
you don’t need the tinted portfolio, Tasmania
the fake turquoise rivers
the glare-green parks
the toxic sunset skies
you need to know, Tasmania,
the first roll of film i shot here
recorded the angles of your clouds
alarming in their cool beauty
subtle colours softening my tired eyes
bedding me aloft in this new space
and your generous rivers, Tasmania,
silking through your cities
burnished to picnic bright
brooding slate grey
slashed by wind to white
open to the sky’s complex embrace
come on and show the world your kitchen face, Tasmania
your before-bathroom hair
your early morning breasts
trust me, Tasmania, the world will still want to come
© Gina Mercer
Gina’s poem won the King Island Poetry Prize in 2005
Peter Macrow,
Tasmanian Times Poetry Editor.
Tasmanian poets or those with a Tasmanian link are invited to send up to 5 poems which have not appeared previously in print or electronic media to:
[email protected]
For the complete collection, click here: Poetry, Peter Macrow
