Published 3 March 202315 May 2023 · Poetry / Friday Poetry Poetry | 2 rat poems by joanne burns joanne burns calendar the courtyard rat squatting on an empire of pizza boxes rainsoaked piles of stewing cardboard flattened packaging from long covid’s eager merchandise anything to transcend an unimagined plague rat traps line the walls like doctors’ obsolete portmanteaux from a much earlier decade just what is happening here the green parrot quizzes perched high on an empty branch of a terminal tree waiting for the developer’s paunch to crush its trunk a cold slab of fermented porridge rises over the neighbourhood like a putinesque moon what rabid declensions resurrect under this demography of tongues the chocolate of the world disintegrates chew after the rain a boring feeling comes dampness flattens the view like a page of mediocre poetry – the harbour has lost its aureole grey grey i hate you grey danked buildings shrunk against a shoddy sky down in the drains rats chew through the postcodes joanne burns joanne burns is a Sydney poet. She is currently assembling a new manuscript of recent works: rummage. More by joanne burns › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 24 November 202324 November 2023 · Friday Poetry Poem with vertical viewfinder Shari Kocher If in future an image of mine— of course, I have made the if-ness of your looking a multiple Ferris wheel turned to trolley car trundling down the street. Damn, I will show you something all right here, inside the daily or what you call private. First published in Overland Issue 228 3 November 20233 November 2023 · Poetry our neighbours poem Ender Başkan our neighbours face appears above the fence – hello. our neighbours have a chat with us. our neighbours learn our names. our neighbours become our friends. our neighbours landlord thinks the market is ripe. our neighbours are told to leave. our neighbours try to buy their house at an exorbitant price to keep their kids in the school zone. our neighbours are denied.
