Published in Overland Issue 226 Autumn 2017 · Uncategorized Old growth / High definition Dan Hogan tiny lantana clots burning in jam jars light the way through the scrub / dragging a television by its rubbery grey power cord, screen down, leaf litter churns and parts, ripping the scab off top soil, a damp cut in the forest floor doesn’t appear in high definition and will heal beneath the din of galahparty and breeze, we push the heavy nonflatscreen television inside a hollow tree, moths clink the flame jars / eddying low, the moon is where we most expect it, there will never be an apocalypse, you say, thumbing a quartz vein in a pebble, tucking the power cord in, there’s already been one and here’s a tree who’s seen thylacines and war, but never billboard shadows chucked on streams of traffic blocking the sun this way, there will never be an apocalypse, you say, we already had one and this is where we live now / in the city, a lever is pulled and a crane’s arm slaps the sky, lowers concrete blocks into the ground, nearby the last tooth in an escalator disappears into a food court floor / our backs hurt, televisions are heavy business, you touch your shoulder with your ear, your clicking bones sing out / i crack my fingers we agree we’re at once polished and putrid / a new step emerges atop an escalatorcase while moonshine silvers the bark of this hollow tree, which will grow to accommodate the television / we shouldn’t be here, you say, the hollow tree will grow through the television, vine and copper tendrils entangled for ages, even after the surf stacks up and Tasmania floods or else it rise out of the sea and frisbee off into space, grazing the cheek of the moon on its way out / here’s old growth that hasn’t seen powerlines shoot electricity to places we’ll never go, its ancestors dead in the walls of whalers’ huts, here’s a tree while we wait for the fire to unclot the lantana and try to think of something cool to say / here’s a tree Image: ‘Giant cranes’ / Xymox Dan Hogan Dan Hogan (they/them) is a writer and editor from San Remo, NSW (Awabakal and Worimi Country). They currently live and work on Dharug and Gadigal Country (Sydney). Dan's debut book of poetry, Secret Third Thing, was released by Cordite in 2023. Dan’s work has been recognised by the Peter Porter Poetry Prize, Val Vallis Award, Judith Wright Poetry Prize, and XYZ Prize, among others. In their spare time, Dan runs DIY publisher Subbed In. More of their work can be found at: http://www.2dan2hogan.com/ More by Dan Hogan › 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 13 June 2025 · Fiction Bardo Alex Goodfellow When I turn, the angle of my sitting gives a perfect view into the kitchen. I see a man, maybe the manager, slap that girl from the counter. She must have moved when I was not looking. Her earphones are thrown from her ears and freeze in their departure from her as I glance. When I look away, I consider that they may still be in the air. 11 June 202512 June 2025 · Art The case of the missing painting: art, power, and the politics of reviews Sarah Schmidt In Australia’s arts sector, two recent reviews have appeared to uphold integrity while quietly protecting the institutions themselves. They tell a revealing story about how federal cultural organisations are handling controversy, and why the public should care.