Paul Hardacre


morning star

“The light of this star surpassed that of all the others;
its brilliance was ineffable and its novelty was such that
all those who looked at it were struck with astonishment.
The sun, moon and the stars formed a choir round this star.”

– St. Ignatius, Epistle to the Ephesians

“She wore upon her head a circlet of towers, because the
circumference of the Earth is, like a circlet, full of cities, castles
and villages. The robe is woven of green plants and hemmed
with leafy boughs thus signifying the trees, plants and herbs which
cover the earth. She bears a sceptre in her hand … Lions draw
[her chariot].

—Vincenzo Cartari, Le Imagini colla sposizione degli dei degli antichi
(describing Ops, the Italian Earth Mother)

beak of grapes of black dwarf sun &
open-mouthed she strikes at hooves
the menaced bird her pool the child
of tree & fish the armoured moth of
time she bent to purple light her stars
a magic steel inside the wind the sky
is marked with cuts & falls to dust on
certain nights & drawn by mountain
cats she rides or tastes of mint & after
sunset corn the ashen breast of morning
tree or bush acacia-crowned or gold /
the poisoned milk to nurse a sort of raven
dog or sea to wet the tongue or sail above
the day he took the ring & later lost & all
was water barley dark her feathered shifting
face she draws down moon a crown of wine
& honey milk & stone the lucky dirt his finest
stole he etched on balas stone a helm of supple
branches flowered horns her reptile dust & spit


alba mater

“While the blood flows from the blessed wound of Christ and the
holy Virgin presses her virginal breast, the milk and blood spurt out
and are mixed and become the Fountain of Life and the Spring of
Well-being.”

– Inscription in the little church of Brixen (Tyrol)

“You are the exploding rose of my eyes I have nothing but third eyes”

– Philip Lamantia, Resurrections

black bird shows the day its fiery darts
the golden string & light blue water
blue & naked wading smells of grave or
well she many-eyed & faint the shade
of sea a thunder spell or dropped sweet
wine her throne in spotted-skin & open
cloud she floats with curve-horned eagles
frail & fading sphere of wings a secret-
coloured stream of hollowed oak her geese
& kine metallic seed of stone she lives in
fire & feeds on fire her water burns to pity
mountains roe & hart the vale of tears the
heart the star will hiss & turtle-voiced is hot
her god is black & maybe earth or roses white a
magic hen she sleeps the world to milk or meat
a beauty-perished tree of earth to sky a shell of
swans of may a kind of dew or latent germ a salt
of stars she squirts in turn the twice-fired end of
iron air the emerald cup & tears his skin & bones



Paul Hardacre was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1974. Since 2000, he has been a Managing Director of papertiger media inc. This has included his editing of the papertiger: new world poetry CDROM; hutt poetry ezine; anything i like art ezine; and the soi 3 modern poets imprint. His first collection of poetry, The Year Nothing, was published by HeadworX (Wellington, New Zealand) in 2003. His second collection of poetry, Love in the place of rats, was shortlisted for the Thomas Shapcott Award in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and was recently published by Transit Lounge (Melbourne) in 2007. More at www.paulhardacre.com

 
 
 
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