CLARK GORMLEY

Clark Gormley is a poet and singer-songwriter based in Newcastle, Australia. He has been involved in organising and promoting local poetry readings for over 20 years.He has been published in several anthologies including Visions From the Valley, A Slow Combusting Hymn and Brew 30 Years of Poetry at the Pub Newcastle. He has written and performed three nerd-themed one-man shows, and is working on a fourth.  He’s also written a bunch of wordy songs, most of which he has sung in the duo Nerds & Music. Gormley pursues these creative endeavours in an effort to counterbalance the stodginess of a career in chemical engineering.

 

His flying islands book, Not What You Think, was published in 2019.

 

www.clarkgormley.com

 

Panda Onesie

 

you get home and

run to the wardrobe

before the shopping

is unpacked

the onesie goes on

 

and there you are

a befurred cherub

in black and white

happy as a folivore

in a bamboo forest

 

the onesie stays on

until you go out

home being your

natural habitat

a tiny enclave of

 

Sichuan Province

cos you’ve read that

the species doesn’t

fare well elsewhere

so you need to wear

 

your human skin

as protection when

venturing into

outdoor captivity

this huge open range zoo