reading “the magus” in crete
Philip Porter (Sydney University, Australia)
for Dorothy Porter
I am
The flute’s reed
The sharp Vee
In the shakuhachi’s throat
the too taut lyre string
aching to break
the frenetic high pitch of a bouzouki
weeping in Piraeus
waiting for the eight armed squid
to gnaw me with its beak
play me
Throw me to the sea
I’ll return to taunt you as the Minotaur
eating virgins as a tax on your
persistent attempts
to not love
me
Philip has recently completed his MA in creative writing at the University of Sydney. He has been published in Eucalypt (Australia), Blue Collar Review (USA) and the online Zen magazine; TheZenSite and Poetry Atlas. Recently his poem, “Cathusian Silence” was put to music by composer Owen Salome and performed as part of Chronology Arts’ Lyrebird project. As a follow-up to his stint as “poet in residence” under the aegis of Australian Poetry Philip organises a community poetry project in a Sydney cafe featuring established and up and coming poets.
