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PETER EADE was born in Brisbane, Australia. Among his many poetic influences are Fernando Pessoa, Osip Mandelstam, and the Australian poet John Forbes, who, according to Peter,  “everybody in the States should read if they want some good Aussie poetry.” In July 2007 he completed his honors year at the University of Melbourne and will study for his Masters in Philosophy next year. He is presently employed as a bicycle courier in Melbourne, Australia, and is working on a play “about someone who specializes in restructuring workplaces,” tentatively called “The Administrator.”

 
 

PETER EADE

 So You've Finished Your Arts Degree

stubbed out on
on a foreign couch

a vague sense anger
an absurd half-erection
and a vast space surrounding
that opens its mouth,
says nothing.

there's not even a scream or moan
to consolidate this isolation

just the pressing things,
like this awareness that
somewhere
roads are meeting skies
younger people are coming and going
producing digital media

while Arts Degrees are washing up
on shores in bottles;
in cafes...

And while the dust settles on your eyes
the mind attempts to balance,
stills for an instant then topples
and you have to
push that rock back up there.

PETER EADE

Reading

Spending time
caffeinated and uneasy
in otherwise calm rooms.
Piecing things together
working on some project
agitated

Cue someone else
like a housemate or my mother
in the kitchen or in the hallway
asking questions:
'how's it going, what doing...'
wanting details
and other things
for some purpose...

I forget, cornered,
panic.
And some animals have frills spikes or venom and hiss
but we're more complex,
and I listen to myself
intone:
Yes it's a nice day,
I've been reading.

PETER EADE

kicked in

when you're poor
and you're crushing
your housemate's dexies
with a teaspoon
and sucking it up with a
rolled bus ticket
and the cups are molding
and your thesis is
about three weeks overdue
(it's still shit)
at one a.m. on tuesday night
with no love
little prospects
a crazy onoff girlfriend
who scares you a bit
and the socks you
have on are damp and old
and you're getting a bit damp and old yourself

wait for the dexies to kick in.

 

 

 

 

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