Anthony Lawrence (born 1957) is a contemporary Australian poet and novelist. Lawrence has received a number of Australia Council for the Arts Literature Board Grants, including a Fellowship, and has won many awards for his poetry, including the inaugural Judith Wright Calanthe Award, the Gwen Harwood Memorial Prize, and the Newcastle Poetry Prize (three times). His most recent collection is Headwaters (Pitt Street Poetry).

My Darling Turns to Poetry at Night

My darling turns to poetry at night.
What began as flirtation, an aside
Between abstract expression and first light

Now finds form as a silent, startled flight
Of commas on her face — a breath, a word ...    
My darling turns to poetry at night.

When rain inspires the night birds to create
Rhyme and formal verse, stanzas can be made
Between abstract expression and first light.

Her heartbeat is a metaphor, a late
Bloom of red flowers that refuse to fade.
My darling turns to poetry at night.

I watch her turn. I do not sleep. I wait
For symbols, for a sign that fear has died
Between abstract expression and first light.

Her dreams have night vision, and in her sight
Our bodies leave ghostprints on the bed.
My darling turns to poetry at night
Between abstract expression and first light.

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Sometimes words flutter against my consciousness, Barely coaxing a response in a fleeting manner Gently saying ‘Write me down, dear’ Others times they resound screeching and jagged Full of discord while beating savagely against my head Until the only peace to be found is to begin the story. While the characters finish the pace in an almost violent extraction Threatening with a ‘Finish...

Added 04 Mar 2016 | Category Poetry | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 479 | 3 Comments

Kooky quasi–serious conversations That amused look between good friends  Where words aren’t needed  The quirk of a brow  The half grin secretly sitting on the corner of your mouth It takes one line of absurd ridiculousness Hilarity ensues chaotically  The giggles becoming guffaws  As tummies tighten and heave  With shared laughter Tears spill out joyfully As our breathing gets harder ...

Added 20 Feb 2013 | Category Poetry | Votes 13 | Avg Score 4.92 | Views 963 | 11 Comments

You hear my words  But don’t get the meaning You hear my jokes  But don’t understand them You see the surface because I allow you to see  Never scratching below the layers of me I sit and silently watch  Without being observed My earphones in  Apparently absorbed in my world I see... I watch all the time because  I can tell by watching if you are evil, good or worth knowing ...

Added 11 Oct 2012 | Category Poetry | Votes 12 | Avg Score 4.92 | Views 1,609 | 11 Comments

‘It’s time’ I said ‘to write me another rhyme’ and nagging doubt set in and I thought( Stop rolling your eyes - I do that, sometimes) It’s been so long, the voices chiming to get out have stilled. Or are they merely muted?   Or on holiday somewhere hot?(the bastards) While I work my ass off on this over populated island This creativity of mine comes and goes Slinking in and out of...

Added 13 Apr 2012 | Category Poetry | Votes 11 | Avg Score 4.82 | Views 1,368 | 7 Comments

I long for solitude, perhaps in a quiet room far away Apart from this noise, modern life so loud A mobile conversation jarringly obtrusive Music player set louder, Drowning out your shouted replies A child kicks my chair on this train Railing and screaming, hauling me back into this world I long for momentary deafness Buffering my soul, against this constant clamour A businessman...

Added 13 Feb 2012 | Category Poetry | Votes 13 | Avg Score 4.62 | Views 1,612 | 9 Comments

I never do a preface to my work but I wrote this a long time ago. I was extremely angry,heartbroken and betrayed by a lover. Looking back I don't feel the same toxicity but it is still a poem that reflects that turbulant part of my life. Dear (Insert your name here) Your subversive cowardice astounds me Daring accusations from you paint me as settling When you settle, your life littered...

Added 14 Feb 2012 | Category Poetry | Votes 9 | Avg Score 4.67 | Views 1,096 | 6 Comments

I search for something but am blinded by the reflective haze of life’s superficiality Trying to unshackle myself of fear I had hoped to reach Nirvana with unconstrained honest spirituality Seeking contentment yet it teases and slips beyond my grasp and eludes me infuriatingly I want to accept the past as a lesson, uproot the emotional weeds yet they cling vine like and seem ...

Added 05 Jan 2012 | Category Poetry | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 1,328 | 7 Comments

This small forgotten bar in the middle of the city The girl sits behind the piano No one pays her any mind except me Her smile a slash of sadness She plays her first chord And from nowhere this jazz sound emerges She should be playing in concerts Her fingers caress the ivory keys She coaxes brilliance out of the tired old piano in the corner And she sings of heartache and beauty ...

Added 30 Nov 2011 | Category Poetry | Votes 18 | Avg Score 4.89 | Views 1,228 | 14 Comments

And you thrummed you fingers into my life. I felt these defences lower Like a retreat called in Battle And you made this heart beat, Beloved. When it had refused for years It creaked, groaned and broke asunder And so I began to feel slowly. I flailed and stumbled Within the murkiness of feelings And then I began to write, Beloved. Of feelings, of colours With emotion and passion ...

Added 21 Oct 2011 | Category Poetry | Votes 10 | Avg Score 4.6 | Views 1,529 | 3 Comments

Don’t you miss stanzas?  I do  I do They order you, my words, like soldiers in a game of strategy Separating ideas like Fair trade farmers shoving coffee beans into piles Don’t you miss poetic devices? I do I do My good pals, onomatopoeia, assonance and allusion They take common words or phrases and imbue them with extraordinary meaning Don’t you miss the simplicity of it all? I do ...

Added 16 Jun 2011 | Category Poetry | Votes 7 | Avg Score 5 | Views 1,410 | 6 Comments