In this audio book selected from BN Oakman's latest poetry collections, In Defense of Hawaiian Shirts and Second Thoughts, we have brilliant readings by one of Australia's best known performers, John Flaus.
Ranging from the philosophical title piece of the anthology, through medical associations in "Neurosurgery", to wartime reflections in "Ypres on Boxing Day" to the personal family pieces like "A Note for My Daughter", this selection of the author's best work is certain to please the ear.
BN Oakman
John Flaus
Formerly an academic economist, BN Oakman started writing poetry in 2006. He has published many poems in Australia, the UK and USA.
He was awarded a grant by the Literature Board of the Australia Council. His work is recorded on the ABC Classics CD, Peter Cundall Reads War Poetry and he reads his poetry at various events and festivals.
His work has been nominated for The Pushcart Poetry Prize 2015 (USA).
www.bnoakman.com
John is one of Australia's best known film, television, radio and theatre performers. He has appeared in over 100 films and TV productions including Tracks, The Castle, Rake and Jack Irish.
John's instantly recognisable voice may be heard on innumerable voiceovers, advertisements and promotions.
ISBN 9781876819446 (CD, 30 minutes playing time);
(release date 1 June 2016)
Don't read (his poems) in a coffee bar; you may well embarrass yourself by shedding justified but unseemly tears.
– Geoff Page, The Canberra Times
There is a gentle, but occasionally disconcerting, power in all of Oakman's poetry.
– Peter Cundall
Oakman writes poems for those annoyed by poets.
– Geoff Lemon
Oakman's poetry moves deftly, but no less aptly, between the commonplace and the insightful, the particular and the universal. Moments of frolic are shot through with wisdom, as elsewhere a purposeful ruggedness leads on to refinement. So many poems are distinguished by their final line: demonstrations of organic closure – conceptually retroactive, forceful yet elegant.
– John Flaus, actor and critic
Links
B N Oakman's website
Sample
Heart’s Desire
You urge me. Go. Hasten to Spain.
Return to my heart’s desire. Heed
the fandango’s beat. Dwell not
on your capricious health. Tarry,
and be infirmity’s wall-flower.
‘I’ll still be here’, you say.
Imagine me, prowling the Prado,
knocking on Unamuno’s door
in Salamanca, catching whispers
of Lorca in Andalusia, resting
on Belchite’s abandoned stones,
wandering the maze and Mihrab
of Cordoba’s mosque, placing a palm
on pardon’s portal in Santiago,
pausing by graves only the brave
dared name, listening to Spaniards
talk politics in a taberna,
my book on a table, an empty chair,
bread gravel in my mouth, oil
rancid on my tongue, the wine
vinegar to unkissed lips.
A Note for My Daughter
for Penny
After I am ashes wait
until your tears have dried.
Choose a day when the wind blows hard
and take the urn (or box or bin)
to some convenient lofty site
(a handy rooftop will suffice) and there,
without ceremony, words or prayer
fling my dust into the flying air.
No declarative stones or lettered brass,
no rosy plot for ruminations,
but in gusts and zephyrs, puffs and squalls
you may remember me
and smile,
your every breath my name.
On Waking
I wake
each morning
folded
to the curve
of your body
lips pressed
to the nape
of your neck
and wait
for the sun
to tint the room
with gold
and wonder
if such as you
lies here
how shall I
ever know
I’m old?
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