{"id":4315,"date":"2024-03-22T11:52:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T01:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4315"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:52:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T01:52:46","slug":"evening-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=4315","title":{"rendered":"Evening Song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

for Sylvia Plath (Morning Song)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once upon a foreign time
we were born
our hearts ticked loud
Our mothers fussed and fretted
fearful our baby breaths would falter
heard every hungry wail
smiled as we sang our burbling songs 
proud as vowels morphed into words<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were postwar precious
harbingers of harmony
fattened on free school milk
and heard by the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now our ticktock hearts, world-tired
Are dulled with despair 
as the air burns our children\u2019s dreams
and nothing gets done<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We watch as friends lose their minds 
Sing jumbled up songs
Or stand blank as statues 
soundless and ghostly and lost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We with our minds intact 
Watch our bodies crumbling
Our heart tics erratic as 
half broken clocks
our joints ache and breaths falter
And our voices fade<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because no-one hears us now
we\u2019re yesterday\u2019s echoes
our vowels don\u2019t count
because no-one\u2019s listening
anymore<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

for Sylvia Plath (Morning Song) Once upon a foreign timewe were bornour hearts ticked loudOur mothers fussed and frettedfearful our baby breaths would falterheard every …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[550,8,21,10],"class_list":["post-4315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-judie-mitchell","tag-mountain-ash-chapter","tag-poetry","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-17B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3605,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3605","url_meta":{"origin":4315,"position":0},"title":"The Rival","author":"Helen Jahn","date":"June 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"You never come to the door anymore, Flatmate, the unwilling deputy, pushes it open again Silently\u00a0 All out of small talk, she\u2019s\u00a0 evaporated I trudge upstairs towards the ambient glow\u00a0 the tinny circus music songs The back of your head above a silver beanbag My rival in her place in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/randy-jacob-KUjJU2C-PBs-unsplash-scaled-e1687247394530.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/randy-jacob-KUjJU2C-PBs-unsplash-scaled-e1687247394530.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/randy-jacob-KUjJU2C-PBs-unsplash-scaled-e1687247394530.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/randy-jacob-KUjJU2C-PBs-unsplash-scaled-e1687247394530.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/randy-jacob-KUjJU2C-PBs-unsplash-scaled-e1687247394530.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3755,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3755","url_meta":{"origin":4315,"position":1},"title":"My Six Day Old Daughter at a Wedding","author":"Helen Jahn","date":"August 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It isn\u2019t my weddingBut my heart is with anotherIt is not with me The bride had it, smiling, speaking with guestsbut she is now passing it to another It fills them both with awe and love and happiness Perturbed, my nervous eyes are on my heartDon\u2019t they know I need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Memory Book"","block_context":{"text":"Memory Book","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=120"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/adele-morris-X-IPlrQuKvA-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/adele-morris-X-IPlrQuKvA-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/adele-morris-X-IPlrQuKvA-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/adele-morris-X-IPlrQuKvA-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3871,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3871","url_meta":{"origin":4315,"position":2},"title":"Inheritance","author":"Maggie McLaren","date":"October 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"All the men died,\u00a0or lefton fields of blood and to distant shores. 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