Nice to see you.




Order Lone Wolf World via Amazon or above
2018 Best New Talent - Short and Sweet Festival Sydney
2014 Pushcart Prize nominee. (more)

Books:



Get a weekly post delivered straight to your email. Email Subscribe to anthonyjlangford2@yahoo.com.au

Life lived - more than the method of death



She was much more than 'that'




As regular readers will be aware, I occasionally use the theme of violence in my poetry (and stories), particularly assaults, rape, king hits etc. The notion of 'unexpected' violence in lieu of a better phrase, visited upon the undeserving, a state of affairs often witnessed that fills me with rage, (no doubt having arisen from the fact that I've been assaulted twice). There's quite a lot of violence in my novels too, with realistic ramifications to victims and flow on effects. 

Unfortunately, these works are still yet to be published. (Update: Lone Wolf World and PERVE are out Now.)


Below is one such poem, the crux of it being that the victim, if deceased, is often remembered for the way they died. Sometimes their personalities, their lives, are overlooked almost entirely, the focus going to the perpetrator. What about the person as an individual and not purely as 'victim'? What about the life lived?

The poem goes a little deeper than that, as you will see.




Prior


They forgot about her
The focus on the perpetrator
Became priority
As it’s always been.

She had existed
For 24 years
Prior
And yet her demise
The struggle
Such as it was
For seven long minutes
Became the entirety
Of her existence
A media story sensation
A slap in the face
With the bulk of her life
Washed over.

It is difficult to comprehend
What happened
It is too terrible
I don’t want to contemplate
The black
Beneath the clouds
But it exists
With or without awareness
So we say farewell
To the gorge of lies
And clutch at vacancies
Wherever they scatter
Though treachery
Hungers close.

Lies are near from those
Whom we should trust
Friends, lovers and enemies yet 
Divide, sniff, deny, bodies separate
Keep an eye out
Here comes the reality
Saturated fat
Ready to smother.

So laugh and scatter
Amongst the fleeting frivolity
And self-imposed distractions
While neglecting to prepare
For something worse
The shock awaits.





www.nocaptionneeded.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Iraqi-mother-grieving



Published in India and the U.S.

Picture





Three poems, two publications, two continents, one happy chappy.


After a fairly quiet couple of months I have two publications this week.
One is a poem called To belong...  published in the Spring edition of Vayavya from India.
It can be read on line. If you're time strapped, my poem is right here.





Photo




The Stray Branch, accepted two poems a year ago.

Unfortunately it cannot be read online but is available to order in print for $10 U.S, quite reasonable considering the cost of new books. It has many great stories and poems and is a healthy 138 pages long.














I don't expect anyone to buy it on my account but if interested email me anthonyjlangford2@yahoo.com.au and I'll ensure you get a discount. If ordering outside of the States, the shipping is more affordable if you buy more than one; a decent birthday present.

Purchase.


Coming soon,
A new video poem, The Moat, a self imposed exile.


Next month,
A special book offer to celebrate the one year anniversary of Caged Without Walls.


Until then,
Stay sane.
=]