Apt (April)

[Found poem: John Olsen review, ‘The Australian’, September 2016] “We spent a lot of time getting that purply moonlight colour.” He speaks with enthusiasm about a country that is best viewed from the air. Great empty spaces are anything but empty. “Perfection looks after itself.” “When you begin to travel over the top of it, then it begins to explain itself.” “It’s very exciting, but it’s very exhausting too.” The joy of being alive. “To my mind, I only have a theme and I concentrate on where I am.” “The line ‘nature is never spent’ seems especially apt.” [April 2017]

Notes to ‘Apt’: ‘Poetry in his palette’ Cover story, ‘Weekend Australian Review’, September 10-11, 2016, by Ashleigh Wilson. Opening line is a reference to the mural painting ‘Five Bells’ at the Sydney Opera House, made by John Olsen circa 1972. “Nature is never spent” – Gerard Manley Hopkins.