This is another example of prose poetry. The poem owes its origins to real events that occurred during an Australian summer when I was a teenager. It is strange to be recalling a summertime event in the middle of an Australian winter, but it was an unforgettable time and it often resurfaces, particularly when I revisit my old home town.  During that long ago summer, a string of hot summer days -a heat wave was ours to endure. A summer that left the landscape parched and dry and communities exposed to the potential of devastating bush fires. And so it transpired...  The poem is presented in two stanzas; blocks of texts representing the before and after aspects of the event. A Summer Blaze   During my fourteenth summer a January bushfire tried to erase our small town. It poked its flaming head above the ridge line, consumed a pine plantation then down the slope it raced, hot and voracious. Acrid smoke surrounded our homes, our streets, our every tiny space. Live e...

  Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. Prose poetry often makes use of devices such as fragmentation, compression, repetition, rhyme, metaphor, and figures of speech. It can express the lyricism and emotion of poetry, and lends itself to exploring a variety of themes. I noted its use in a number of anthologies in my personal library with some interesting variations in structure and presentation. I immediately felt compelled to rummage deeper. I have been experimenting with different formations and in coming weeks will share a few.   I willingly own up to enjoying the exploration of diverse poetry forms and it with this in mind I share this recently 'made' example of prose poetry. A satisfying process to polish and refine my intial raw words. Close Your Eyes And Step Into The Unknown At Essex Street subway interchange I am walking up the stairs when a small girl and her mother approach from the opposite direction. As they desc...