Poem copyright ian Irvine (Hobson) 2018, all rights reserved.


On a sleepy Sunday morning, after extravagant

feasting, raucous music, late night kisses,

all manner of revelry ... the Summer Gods

depart the city.

Bleery-eyed Oligarchs are uneasy, but political

legitimacy is unaltered (in their minds). In truth:

displays of wealth (jewels, art, fine clothes), rough

policing, gaudy spectacles and military pomposity

are all that remain to keep the masses loyal.

Iron gates close behind a colourful procession.

Tumblers, jesters, healers, astrologers,

flautists. drummers, harpists and chanters

prepare for a brisk walk to the next residency.

Meanwhile, the Summer Gods survey

a chain of distant mountains, and their guides

and scouts consult old maps before reaching

for primitive binoculars.

All are agreed upon the destination -

that tower beyond the blue-thread river

(twinkling in the valley below).

The Chief Librarian - rein in hand, books safely

packed in snug caravans, pondering matters

literary and cosmological - mounts her white mare.

She does not look back. The City of Oligarchs

is dead to her now. She mutters old

incantarions and abruptly withdraws her

long-unacknowledged blessings.

She breathes crisp morning air

and squints slightly, as the sun frees itself

from southward skittering rain clouds.

A long-suffering apostle beckons.


[This poem is part of Ian's 'Expain Yourself to Goya' sequence of poems.]

Dr Ian Irvine (Hobson) is the author of two novels, a book of poetry and an acclaimed nonfiction book on chronic forms of alienation and ennui. His works have featured in various Australian national writing anthologies as well as in over 100 journals and magazines. He has co-edited over 20 writing anthologies and has taught as a creative arts educator and sometimes course coordinator since 1994. He is the founder and chief songwriter of the alt. rock band Interstitium, and was also the lead singer and co-songwriter of Australian alt rock band "Goya's Child (Original)" before his departure in 1994.