Tuesday, August 30, 2016

New Poetry by Benjamin Dodds










Ode to the Saturn V

Gravity fumbles and lets one through:
a climbing tower blows back 

flaming raspberry three times its length.
Transcendence of the everyday

through roaring machine—
the impossible on demand

from a swiss watch that stands
one hundred and eleven metres high. 

Ten separate trios of men balanced 
on the head of an unfailing pin

pitched and yawed
upward and outward

defied Ithacan pull
on yoked and steered explosion

an inferno that raged only 
twenty minutes per mission

but opened an infinite sky.
Twelve brought back on their boots

the dust of somewhere else
but each and all were lowered 

home again as promised
to the Pacific's open embrace

on candy-striped scoops
of oh-so-welcome air.

A miracle on repeat
burns money and interest.

People stop watching 
and awe becomes a yawn.

The Saturn V
elite succeeder

the tallest of poppies proves
no one likes an overachiever.


- Benjamin Dodds 2016


Benjamin Dodds is the author of Regulator (Puncher & Wattmann Poetry, 2014). His work has appeared in Best Australian Poems 2014, Meanjin, Cordite and on Radio National’s Poetica program. He blogs at benjamindodds.wordpress.com and tweets @coalesce79.

1 comment:

EIP said...

Excellent, such an unconventional but nonetheless engaging style. I particularly like the line: 'A miracle on repeat burns money and interest.'