Published in Overland Issue 231 Winter 2018 Uncategorized Storm damage Mitchell Welch the momento mori of a drowned world is untold inside out umbrellas, a plague of logo-spangled spider bones webbed with shreds of nylon gumming up a ruin-of-a-bridge’s pylon and if you thought old Moses was a miracle baby, just you wait and see— imagine the biblical intensity of a whole generation launched in eskies on the deluge of a great river of denial. anyway, there aren’t enough ex-prime ministers in the world to put on waders, balance all our baggage on their heads, and move us to higher ground— not in such ruddy conditions as these ( lol ) every fallen limb represents an incident report, an informational event that sets processes branching up towers like acute pain to the dead letter brain. the storm’s allusive rage in tatters resembles the way a modern day nightmare feels in the dark for an open hatch through which slurries of adult wisdom can be shit-shovelled back in time to re-landscape backyards of childhood dreams with scary monster memes. Image: Blue cascades / flickr Read the rest of Overland 231 If you enjoyed this poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four outstanding issues for a year Mitchell Welch Mitchell Welch is a writer and editor from Brisbane. He currently lives in Melbourne where he works as the communications manager for a cemetery trust. More by Mitchell Welch 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 27 January 2023 Cartoons In attacking us, they bring us together Sam Wallman 'What these bosses don't understand is that in attacking us, they bring us together.' (Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union of Australia, Svitzer Rally November 2022) First published in Overland Issue 228 24 January 202325 January 2023 Aotearoa / New Zealand The end of the politics of care Giovanni Tiso The daily spectacle of televised briefings was not unique to New Zealand, and it may simply be the case that Ardern thrived when given the opportunity to speak to the public directly—in other words, that she was better than others at it. Alternatively, we could say that her rhetoric found in the pandemic the ground on which to turn into concrete action. Either way, the benefits we derived in terms of lives saved from the remarkable extension of that social license are literally incalculable.
