Almanac Poetry: What Happened at University This Week
Rapunzel. [Wikimedia Commons.]
What Happened at University This Week
Demelza, a fellow tutor,
lost the key to the Red Room
(the place, a couple of days ago,
we had our half-year meeting
and bantered about assessment).
Linda had given the key to Jane
who handed it to Demelza,
who promptly, characteristically,
misplaced the aforesaid thing.
Blithe-spirited Demelza
(who I secretly call Rapunzel
because of her long fair hair
and penchant for fairy tales)
probably doesn’t realise now,
more than three days later,
the emails that have passed
about the precious article.
It currently sits in the pocket
of the dress she flung on a rocking chair
as soon as she got home
to put on a favourite jumper and jeans.
It’s a serious matter, this missing key:
people want to have meetings,
sit their thoughtful asses
upon the velvet crimson
in this allusive room.
(Acknowledgements: poem first appeared in my third poetry collection, Orpheus in the Undershirt, Ginninderra Press, 2018.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Bluebeard hangs about in allusive rooms. Maybe it’s best that you don’t go there. Hit the pub instead. Far more productive, for one.
Ah, Matt – many a true word is said in jest!