Live Encounters Poetry & Writing February 2024.
Brimful, poem by Michael J. Leach.
Brimful
for Irina
New Year’s Eve 2023
a mugful of mint tea / a mouthful of Baci* / a tableful of delicate dishes /
a houseful of fragrant flowers / a lungful of petrichor / a gardenful of local birds
/ a lapful of felines / a rackful of clean dishes / a basketful of clean clothes
/ a handful of fresh berries / a palmful of four-leaf clovers / a pocketful of
pocketbooks / a pageful of love poetry / a screenful of romance / a roomful of
bubbly music / a bottleful of champagne / a bowlful of salted cashews /
a plateful of barbecued meats / a scoopful of gelato / a lakeful of pleasure boats /
a boxful of sparklers / a skyful of fireworks / a headful of happiness / a heartful of fondness
* ‘Baci’ refers to both the Baci brand of chocolate truffles and the Italian word for ‘kisses’.
© Michael J. Leach
Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian poet, critic and academic. Michael’s poems have appeared in journals such as Cordite Poetry Review, exhibitions such as the Antarctic Poetry Exhibition, anthologies such as Poetry d’Amour 2022: Love Poems (WA Poets Incorporated, 2022), and his two poetry books: Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020) and Natural Philosophies (Recent Work Press, 2022).
Michael has won the UniSA Mental Health and Wellbeing Poetry Competition (2015), received a commendation in the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine (2021), jointly won the poetry category of the Minds Shine Bright Confidence Writing Competition (2022) and had a poem shortlisted for the Woollahra Digital Literary Award (2023). During 2024, Michael will publish two new poetry books: a collection of haiku and senryu (In Case of Emergency Press) followed by a collection of poems exploring sounds and emotions (Ginninderra Press). He lives on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung Country and acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land.