New Poetry by Lizz Murphy

Karaoke

A woman is at home having the time of her life just herself

and her karaoke machine  I know this because she told me

There she sat in the crowded shopping centre just herself

on the circular seat in an arc of people separated by their shopping   I saw her alone in her deciding moment crossed her path like some stray black cat  Our eyes met and she stood up Stood by her conviction

If they don’t want to hear me sing

I’ll buy my own karaoke machine

and sing at home! 

Alone             Just herself

Alone sometimes I think I hear her song  

It drifts down from the north  seventy years old  

a little smoky  a bit cracked  more off-key than on


- Lizz Murphy 2015

Lizz Murphy has published 12 books of different kinds. Her seven poetry titles include Portraits: 54 Poems and Six Hundred Dollars (PressPress), Walk the Wildly (Picaro), Stop Your Cryin (Island) and Two Lips Went Shopping (Spinifex). Her eighth poetry title, Shebirds, is forthcoming (PressPress). She is widely published in Australia and overseas and has some awards and mentions. Lizz was born in Ireland and has lived in Binalong in rural NSW Australia for a long time.