New Poetry by Barbara De Franceschi

I Cannot Write Modern

Stimulus is in the cheekbones of an arid zone,

in vertebrae of mica that glint like fools gold.

I bush-walk in isolation,

expect the dry expanse to give me azaleas

when all it sprouts is Salvation Jane. 

Past tense phrases

dribble into the right side of my brain,

the sun glares at me in fretful heat,

I cannot find the risqué words to describe

its fire-cracker explosion

across pigments of red cresting brown.

I crouch to read the sticks and stones,

unravel mystery bleached by time,

only to find –

I am reading myself.

- Barbara De Franceschi 2015

Barbara De Franceschi is a poet who lives in the out-back town of Broken Hill. Besides two collections of poetry, her work has been published widely in Australia, in other countries and on-line. This year (2015) Barbara is artist-in-residence at the Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health to promote Art in Health.