Stefanie Bennett’s poems appear in Dead Snakes, Haggard & Halloo, Agent Orange ‘poems
to empower all Agent Orange victims’, Communion, Snorkel, The Fib Review & others. Of
mixed ancestry [Irish/Italian/Paugussett-Shawnee] she was born in Qld., Australia in 1945.
Stefanie’s latest poetry title ‘The Vanishing’ [2015] is published by Walleah Press & available
from Walleah Press, Amazon & Fishpond Books.
THE SOFT DOMESTIC ECONOMY
Via the vending maelstrom
Machine
I get a blighted
Portfolio poultice –,
An art-deco
Electric toothbrush –,
Three cut-out
Culinary
Square meals –,
A jump-to-it
‘Confederacy
Of confidence’
Madrigal
Where nothing
Is as it
Seems
–, and
The usual
Acidic glare
From
My bed-sit
Night nurse
Who has
Madam Blavatsky’s
... Eyes.
[First published in Boston
Poetry
Magazine]
I love the odd and experimental syntax. The rough structure imposes a sense of confusion, possibly agitation. The invented idioms are unique. I love it when poets invent new sayings and put them in the poem as if the reader is set to understanding their meaning, as if they were a cliche we haven't heard yet. 'confederacy of confidence'...The title makes the poem appear to be political in some light...it simplifies the distinction of the personal and the political, and makes such a distinction obvious. "domestic economy". Overall, it reflects an unstable life where one is helpless and alone in the scheme of things. The structure also seems to impose a sense of panic on the reader.
ReplyDeletethis is excellent. its jagged and harsh and hints at suburban unease and political strife. great stuff.
ReplyDelete