I Wish I'd Written This

Poem for John

By Alison Croggon

You ask for a poem

and I say

I have no poem

here the sky

which embraces both of us

in this single world

is blue

and I read

that birds sing

between the bombs

in Iraq

no balance

no consolation

and no answer

as the angel of history

turns its vengeful face

towards us all

you are right

we need poems

as we need bread

we hunger for that blue

human milk

to nourish our largeness

to minister our pain

and our love

here is your poem

(From Ash, Cusp Books, LA 2006. © Alison Croggon)

Both poem and photograph are copyright, and are used with permission.

I first met Alison Croggon when she was a young poet in Melbourne in the early eighties, and already one of Australia's most beautiful lyric poets. She had worked as a journalist, and I remember thinking what an asset that must be to a poet — all that training in cutting out unnecessary words.

Her first book of poetry, This is the Stone, won two of Australia's most prestigious poetry prizes, the Anne Elder Award (for a first book of poetry) and the Dame Mary Gilmore Prize. She is also a successful playwright, fantasy novelist and librettist. She continued with the journalism, well-known as a theatre critic writing for literary publications and more recently in her blog, Theatre Notes.

Her website is the best place to find out more about Alison, with links to her wonderful fantasy series, her 'biography that explains everything', other poems, and lots more. Don't forget to look for further links from these links. You can find her books at her Amazon page.

I admire all her poetry,  which does uniquely beautiful things with language. This particular piece appeals to me in its simple directness and its restraint — and of course for what it says in its conclusion.

Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).