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Damian Balassone
Australia

Four Steps To Standing on a Horse - Penny Howard - 2014
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Damian Balassone’s poems have appeared in a variety of Australian and international publications and have been broadcast on ABC Radio. His second collection of poetry, Daniel Yammacoona, was recently published by Ginninderra Press and is available for purchase at Readings bookstores.

The Galaxy for Our Eyes

           Behold celestial skies,
           the galaxy for our eyes,
my love lights up the darkness like a luminescent kite.
           Behold celestial skies,
           the galaxy for our eyes,
her thrilling touch miraculously delivers me from night,
and all who see her laughing eyes are bathed in beams of light.





The Book of Original Clichés

The cabbage-patch people of trendy cafés
despised his little book of original clichés.
“Just be yourself,” the patrons lectured him,
“Which one?” he answered with a sheepish grin.




The Ageing Singer

It seemed like only yesterday
his quest for fame begun,
yet still he prances on a stage,
the sperm of youth has swum.

If there’s a cure for loneliness,
he cannot ascertain it,
but if he cannot change the world,
he’ll have to entertain it.




The Player

If you state your ambition,
you’ll be treated with suspicion,
so pretend to be humble
and you will never stumble,
as you climb the corporate tower
and procure your worldly power,
crowned with immortality,
excused from immorality,
and, of course, above suspicion…
if you learn to hide ambition.




The Scientist

Synagogue, temple, mosque, church
did not at all reward my search,
so I renounced religion and became free
and now I study the stars and the sea.