{"id":5093,"date":"2022-09-21T17:52:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T07:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/?p=5093"},"modified":"2022-09-27T16:06:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T05:36:57","slug":"poetry-spotlight-back-again-by-mike-ladd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/2022\/09\/poetry-spotlight-back-again-by-mike-ladd\/","title":{"rendered":"POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Back Again’ by Mike Ladd"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This week’s poetry spotlight shines on Mike Ladd’s poem ‘Back Again’, from his multi-genre collection Invisible Mending<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Post written by Polly Grant Butler<\/pre>\n
Mike Ladd produces writing that resists easy categorisation. Like his earlier work, Karrawirra Parri: Walking the Torrens from source to sea<\/a>, Invisible Mending<\/a><\/em> blends poetry, prose, essay and memoir, while also incorporating photographs by Mike’s life and art partner, Cathy Brooks. The juxtaposition of Mike’s writing with Cathy’s imagery is like a collage of interpretations and symbolism; their two different approaches to an idea evoking an almost dream-like state. <\/p>\n\n
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Sclerophyll, Adelaide, 2016. Cathy Brooks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The natural landscape is something Mike returns to often in his work, his poems frequently featuring animals, plants and rivers. In ‘Back Again’, there is a sense of intimacy between the speaker and the Australian bush, running parallel to the intimacy of a domestic relationship. Yet unlike these connections, which seemingly inspire safety and comfort, Australia itself is depicted as stifling and bureaucratic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a looseness to the rhythm in this poem, a semi-casual, conversational tone. But it is also brimming with sharp, insightful imagery. A half-rhyme between ‘there’ and ‘door’ in the final line gestures toward something greater than the present: a future full of ‘summer shining’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Mike Ladd and Cathy Brooks’ latest collaboration Dream Tetras, <\/em>a book of images and essays, is due out from Wakefield Press in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Support Wakefield Press by buying our beautiful books!  Visit our website<\/a> or contact us on 08 8352 4455 for more information, or to purchase a book (or three!). We can post your purchase to your doorstep!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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