The Tuesday Poem: “Hour glass” by Frankie McMillan
Hour glass
she was a corsetière
threading whale bone
through cloth
placing herself close
to the ocean
became lucrative
when whales surfaced
she saw
bustles, derrières,
the amazement of men
on their wedding night
she scraped her learning
from medical notes
collapsed lung
block and tackle
.
© Frankie McMillan
Hour glass first appeared in Turbine (2012) and is included in There are no horses in heaven, Canterbury University Press, 2015.
Reproduced here with permission.
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About the Poem:
I am currently engaged in the process of re-posting poets who have had multiple poems featured here on “…Anything, Really” , or by me on the Tuesday Poem Hub, since I joined the Tuesday Poem community in June 2010.
Today I am delighted to continue featuring the “unique and insightful” (Beatties Bookblog) poetry of Frankie McMillan. I featured this poem earlier this year, on The Tuesday Poem Hub, which you should check out if you would like to read a fuller commentary. But it’s nonetheless a pleasure to have the opportunity to highlight both it, and Frankie, again today.
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About The Poet:
Frankie McMillan is the author of The Bag Lady’s Picnic and other stories, and a poetry collection, Dressing for the Cannibals. In 2005 she was awarded the Creative NZ Todd Bursary. In 2008 and 2009 her work was selected for the Best NZ Fiction anthologies. Other awards include winner of the New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition (2009) and the NZ National Flash Fiction award (2013). In 2014 she held an Ursula Bethell writing residency at Canterbury University. Her second book of poetry, There Are No Horses in Heaven was published by Canterbury University Press in March, 2015.
Very recently, Frankie both won and also took third place in the National Flash Fiction competition. You can read all about it here: A National Flash Fiction Heroine: Congratulating Frankie McMillan
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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here.
Such a tight poem that still conveys big ideas and emotions. LOVE IT!
So glad, Kristen. 🙂