Almanac Poetry: ‘Trigger Warning’ – Maria Takolander
Since The Footy Almanac published a poem from Maria Takolander‘s poetry collection, Trigger Warning she was awarded The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2022 for Poetry for her collection.
To celebrate Maria’s award The Footy Almanac is delighted to post another poem from this award winning and thought provoking collection of poems.
The following is a statement by the judges of The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2022:
Maria Takolander’s fourth poetry collection shows the writer at the very peak of her form. Beginning with a wry set of conversations addressed to various legendary poets (including Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell), Takolander works through issues involving duty of care, illness and violence. From the confessional to the domestic, Trigger Warning continues with a shrewd, sometimes humorous, survey of commonplace objects that, from the poet’s eye, are dressed anew. The third part moves outwards from the previous two sections’ interiority. It’s more playful and experimental. Takolander takes risks with form as she explores man-made and environmental disasters of the Anthropocene. The book is multi-layered, bolstered with incisive intellect and wit and underscored by an impressive range of tone, style and themes.
Cigarette
It was made for the flicks.
Stained with red lipstick, modelled against a set of venetians,
it created a miasma of eroticism,
of the je ne said quo, something forbidden.
Before long, it had audiences gasping.
It made the most of its fame, creating its own line in style –
prêt-à-porter meets haute couture,
terminally chic.
It had the air of complication.
Certainly, it was ambitious.
For decades it teetered
on the edge of world domination.
Fingers were repurposed for its design.
Then, just like that, its reputation disintegrated,
like a burning tower
in a disaster movie.
Maria Takolander
More poetry from Almanac Poetry can be read HERE
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Fingers were repurposed, Maria. Well observed. It’s 40 years since I’ve had a smoke but I still grip a biro softly enough to avoid crushing any tobacco within. Film noir just does not cut it without seeing those wisps making their way towards the angled venetians.