infidels of the sun we watch folds
in this restless land bake our beliefs
do we enter the new dry or last ice age
of our imaginings bright technology
whispers down invisible lines turns our gaze
to wormholes sucks our dusty imagery
into temporal twists spatial vortices
the thrill of discovery minute gyroscopes
most perfectly sphered measure dimples
our Earth’s plump rump sitting in a pillow
time/space sags beneath her weight
opens new dimensions in our minds
Saturn grows a storm or is it humanity
at play at war with its shadows
breaking its fronts in bombs and blood
we flee to these folds in a restless land
while solar flares grow bright alignments
underscore the shudders of tectonic plates
we watch folds pucker oceans drag and pound
ah, the memory of water bittersoft chaos as if
Shiva’s hand falls echoes our flight we dance
on moving carpets while polar caps melt
on Mars droplets dissolve into the mirror
of our desire for migrancy beyond borders
of a world grown small fragile to human touch
infidels of the sun set longer sights
unlock fantasy’s rim fear and hope
sand shifts beneath our feet we watch folds
Credit note: “Folds” was published in The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, which I co-edited with P. S. Cottier (IP, 2014), and is reproduced by permission of the poet. The Stars Like Sand is available from the publisher and from amazon.com.au. If you’re ordering through a bookshop that doesn’t stock it, let them know the ISBN: 978-1-922120-78-6
Check out this excellent review of The Stars Like Sand in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tim says: This is another of the fine poems we selected for The Stars Like Sand, and that would be quite enough reason to post it here, but there’s another one: partly inspired by her inclusion in The Stars Like Sand and the quality of the anthology, Jo Mills decided to set up an international speculative poetry competition with very generous prizes. It’s open for submissions now, and closes on 1 May. Check out the guidelines here:
https://interstellaraward.wordpress.com/interstellar-award-for-speculative-poetry/
About Jo Mills: Jo Mills is a speculative poet, short story writer and fantasy author (under the pen-name Joanna Fay). She recently founded Interstellar to host two annual awards for speculative poetry and fiction respectively, and to publish themed speculative fiction and poetry anthologies from 2016.
Jo lives in the Perth Hills, Western Australia, with her teenage son, two dwarf rabbits and a quail who thinks she’s an eagle. She keeps an eye on the sky for starships and patiently awaits the arrival of her galactic family. Jo’s author website can be found at http://joannafay.me/
The Hub Tuesday Poem: is Nest by Linda France, chosen by Helen McKinlay.
