Maxine Beneba Clarke’s newest poetry collection How Decent Folk Behave is a raw, unflinching reflection on some of the major international political, social, and cultural moments of the past few years. Ranging across topics like the #SchoolStrikeForClimate rallies and Black Lives Matter protests that took place across the globe, candlelit vigils held to commemorate women killed by domestic violence, the devastating 2019/2020 summer bushfires, and of course the coronavirus pandemic, Clarke’s poems offer a candid and appropriately rage-filled snapshot of how these issues affect us all. Though often heartbreaking, these poems are also thought-provoking and compelling, as they invite us to question and reflect on our own place in the world. Most importantly, perhaps, is the underlying reminder of the importance of learning from the past to make a better future, the hopeful spark that will create a fire of transformation, instead of just destruction. As Clarke says, in the final poem of the collection, ‘fire moves faster’, one thing we have all learned is how “we all will fight, to live”.
A poem from the collection
icarus
icarus,
her father fashioned wings
but he made her flight
a conditional thing
said don’t fly too high:
baby girl, when you fly,
Just don’t fly too high
but icarus said i am
going to burn
and i might burn,
but i will fly,
and mark my words:
i will see
every altitude
before i die
Reviewed by Mindful Puzzles Puzzle Editor, Nicole Kennedy.
