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Thylazine: The Australian Journal of Arts, Ethics & Literature                                                                                                                                    #3/thyla3k-pb AUSTRALIAN POETS SERIES 3 The Poetry of Pam Brown Selected by Coral Hull [Above] Photo of Pam Brown by John Tranter, 1999. I Not the town I Twitching I Mwa Vee I Not the town as in a colonial outpost local do-good cablers on pass-the-microphone-tv make Rimbaud's 'oxidise the gargoyles' sound like the butler in the 'Red Dwarf' - not the town, the walls, are painted red for years & years the households suffer bloated ill-temperament, the way personal crises can continue in an underlying manner - the reminder is 'don't ignore the abject'. that reminds me - these parliamentary candidates are those Baudrillard would call                    'a conjuration                    of imbeciles' - chaotic music backgrounds their flaggy luncheons, their floral tributes deny any opposition, their militaristic hobbies - fokkerschmidt submachine diesel boot the bottom line. scanning the windows of Cash Converters for stolen cell phones, the ground trembles as traffic exits the shopping complex parking station, in fuck-the-reader-Timezone the premature ejaculators, their fingers on the game, hoot for joy every time they destroy another animation. Published Text Thing (Paperbark Press, 2001) Twitching                                                    "I learned to read by watching Wheel of Fortune when I was a baby." C. Bernstein, Claire-in-the-Building                             Upbringing,       social                                    background, any                                  or much  mistrust                                         in systems?              What's the name of the crematorium                  which keeps                                 my parents'                                    little plaques ?                              Something Gardens                                                 probably.                              Early interests :                                athletics after an age                                   of mechanical reproduction -                              duhwutt duhwutt                                    duhwutt                                         scratch music                                                sound fx                              lust                                  in the manchester shop                                     behind                                        the velvet flags,                              the Nietzsche                                   pillow cases                                (the will                                     cannot                                            will backwards)                              your geographic friends                                     confirm                              you are the you                                  putting in                                    an appearance                              & the olden days                                      of fuck & vanish                                            are finished                                                   !!                              Instruction -                                  reveal your                                      apparatus !                                                        (oulipo !)                                                   !!                              Demonstrable ire -                              the property agent,                                   an entirely                                      flappable                                     lapsed anarchist,                                  becomes exercised                                              over the paltry                              & is caught up                                       in terminally puerile                                              platitudes of growth -                                   'growth! growth! growth!'                                                   !!                              Howling                                    in the shady arboretum                                            of the Great White City                                   tournament grounds                              illumined by laser                              the weather                                   is wonderful   near dark                              a tennis duo                                                     lobs                                           lime-green balls                                             onto mondo grass,                                   hardy worldly grass                              & no faith                                   in amenities                                   between Chinatown                                & the Powerhouse                                         a white plastic scuff                                                lies on the foot bridge.                              Into the breeze                                    which is a wind                                         contrails disperse                                  like blurry cyrillics                                                   !!                              The small                                   somatic problems                                          of middle age                              if you throw                                      your hair                                         into a fire                                the brightness                                                of the flame                                       determines your longevity,                              if it doesn't burn                                           you'll drown                              After 40        nature                                      has finished with you                                                   !!                              Atoms of language -                                in bed,                               text-book lover,                                 a silver paperclip                                        is your only trace                              (labia puffy                                           like figs)                              Art is mostly                                      showing off                                            the cleverest                                        decoration                              the buildings                                     in the distance                                               look like bottles                                  asphyxiation drives                                                                  us out                              & the keroseney taste                                      of carrots ,                              'her cinematic oeuvre'                                     sounds like                                    her breakfast                              We appear to be reduced                              to apostrophe : the elegant                                                       Gee Whiz                              interstitial thinking -                                    everything's                                                   a particle. Published in 50-50 (Little Esther Books, 1997).                         Mwà Véé                              tontouta airport -                                            funny-vowelled                                                   new zealanders                              are greeted                                     with small gifts                                          of sun-block cream                              kowekara -                                        everyone is welcome                              cyclone rewa                                    pre-alerts noumea                                across in sydney                                  armchair agitators                                         continue                                  'slinging off     against                                      the french            ignoring    american revelations of secret pacific tests          as late as 1991       &  "radiation experiments" -                  furtively feeding                       selected citizens                                         plutonium here       americans    (especially                                black americans)       are remembered                   affectionately - the ruins of bridges            built for WWII                    pointed out                        on sightseeing tours to the madeleine               & pastis rivers cyclone rewa         follows          the little cyclone      knocking down               the big polynesian statue, carved guardian      of the hotel swimming pool breezes are winds      caught by         the swiftest windsurfers              contesting                imagined leviathans placid baie des citrons -      stonefish              leave the lagoon   as soon as the sun        lights the sea in which poodles swim           with madames who don't    but float with kickboards               flippers goggles bathing caps                           like children    in misty clouds a dramatic mountain range             scraped into beauty                    by nickel mining, west coast -       all black sand     red sea yaté-goro -       out on an outcrop          a totem               prevents shark attack on shore   the citrus-sweet smell       of crushed niaoli leaves manioc   taro   green papaya     yam     green coconut   vanilla             hibiscus   orchid      poinciana         oleander wood-panelled buses'      music booming          the pilou beat             zoom round the bays the pilou-pilou -     trance inducing dance          the kanaké             don't perform                    commercially beachside      le snack pilou-pilou          sells frites & saucissons a successfully        colonised island - the jogging cycling          army navy boys               strike memorable poses       at dusk -               pontoon silhouettes at the zam-zam store -      tin walls      striped                    red and blue & savah supermarché -          tinned euro food            & heat-ruined wines jean-marie tjibaou's     university -        a slow construction, as slow as              independence Published in 50-50 (Little Esther Books, 1997). About the Poet Pam Brown Pam Brown was born in Seymour, Victoria. She has lived in various locations in eastern Australia and currently lives in Sydney, New South Wales. Pam has written thirteen books of poetry and prose and some chapbooks. She has also written reviews and articles for literary & art journals. She has worked at Sydney College of the Arts, the Tin Sheds Art Workshop at Sydney University and the Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide, South Australia. She has taught film, video & studio research at the College of Fine Art, Sydney. Her forthcoming book of poetry with Little Esther Books in 2001, is called Text thing. Since 1997 she has been the poetry editor for the literary quarterly, Overland magazine.    [Above] Photo of Pam Brown by John Tranter, 1999. I Next I Back I Exit I Thylazine No.3 (March, 2001)