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From: Vol.11 N.01 – Queering Ecopoet(h)ics

Dendrology

by Kate Lilley
Among the Mirtles, as I walkt,
Love and my sighs thus intertalkt:
Tell me, said I, in deep distreffe,
Where I may find my Shepardesse.

– Robert Herrick, 'Mrs. Eliz. Wheeler'
These tree trunks bear a striking resemblance
to the overgrowth on a postcard from 1910
behind the Castle of Auvers-sur-Oise
toward the end of the afternoon
There are messages in the flowers
talking about steganography

Come to me at your earliest:
as far as I’m concerned
unlust = pain
(repeat paste)

Patience out of the ground
sundry leaves crumpled or folded together
effectual for inward and outward diseases
pains and swellings of the head
burstings and broken parts
obstructions and griefs

Learn my lines, try to blend in
use my signalling device wisely
you know as well as I
the nouveau roman never ended


I submit my claim to the High Court of Love

the Chancellery of Love


the Court of the Auditors of Love


the Court of the Women of the Council of Love

the Court of the Privileges of Love


the Court of Beauty


the Court of Flowers and Gardens


the Court of Waters Forests and Wild Love


the Court of Joy


the Court of Mourning

Published: April 2024
Kate Lilley

is the author of three books of poetry, most recentlyTilt (Vagabond Press, 2018), winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award for Poetry, two edited collections,The Blazing World and Other Writings by Margaret Cavendish (Penguin Classics) and Selected Poems of Dorothy Hewett (UWAP, 2010), and many essays. She was a member of the English Department at the University of Sydney 1990-2021 where she is now an Honorary Associate Professor.

An Australian and international
journal of ecopoetry and ecopoetics.

Plumwood Mountain Journal is created on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to elders past, present and future. We also acknowledge all traditional custodians of the lands this journal reaches.

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