ARTWORK | Spencer and Lloyd Harvey Writer/Directors

THE POETRY SERIES

This is an ongoing photographic series titled “The Poetry Series”. Each artwork has a stanza number and is accompanied by a poem written by Spencer and Lloyd in tribute to the artwork. “A Book of Poetry: Volume I” includes the first 13 stanzas and is limitedly available. Artworks from the series have been exhibited in the National Portrait Prize and included in the semi-finals of the Moran Photographic Portrait Prize.

19. The Requiem - Virginia Gay

Above me the sky grows darker
The wind bristles and spins me farther
Branches and twigs scrape as I float by
Like hands clawing to keep me dry

But on I weave till I meet the sea
Far from these reeds that tangle me
Till soon their screams become a whisper
A perfect silence growing crisper

So don’t fret for me my dearest ones
I was not cut by their sharpened tongues
I was not sodden by their dampened moods
I’ve found true comfort in my solitude

19. The Painter - Michelle Law

A fresh layer laid on thick
Hiding fate’s latest trick

And then I start to wonder
What if they see what’s under?

I check all the gaps and cracks
Sure I’ve covered up my tracks

But then I spot a forgotten hue
A peak of colour just sneaks through

What comes next? It taunts me
What new stain will haunt me?

But no last stroke will strike me
No last lick will lick me

No, this last splash will spare me
This last drip will set me free

18. The Encore - Skii Harvey

She takes pause before it all begins
An audible gasp of baited breaths
She smiles and gently lifts her chin
Revelling in her guests unrest

And she wonders if they might suspect
The twists and turns she has in store
She ponders as the band project
The start of a wistful, rousing score

Are they ready for love and loss?
Are the ready to weep for joy?
The best of life comes at a cost
But soon they’ll call for her encore

17. The Victory - Gemma Bird Matheson

A new anointed takes the throne
A celebration marks victory
A battle won from blood and bone
We’ve freed you from their tyranny

But still the memory remains
The loss of those we could not save
A candle lights their broken chains
We build our future on their graves

16. The Statue - Danielle Baynes

Slowly, drawn, was this decay
Clocking time while you’re away
The piano rang her final note
Memories bound by fraying rope

Linger, leave, I chose to stay
But less of me remains today
Dust will settle, the sun will gloat
What’s left of me will wait afloat

15. The Fortune - Heather Mitchell

I don’t need to ask the question
But if you bid me so
The answer is a lesson
That will only bring you woe

I see your present fortune
Your cup does overflow
But soon will rise a waning moon
To take what it is owed

14. The Sacrifice - Danielle Macdonald

Do you lie awake and wonder
Sure you hear a sound?
Do you peer over your shoulder
Hold your ear against the ground?

Then let me hold you close dear
I will keep you safe
I will spend my days ensuring
We don’t ever leave a trace

13. The Wall - Elise McCann

The nights have passed in silence
The days were whispered sighs
I wondered twas it the highness
That kept them hastening by

I did call out perhaps once or twice
But none did seem too moved
I suppose they insisted on sacrifice
when I asked to be removed

So I’m waiting here now quite fixed
Unlikely to ever come down
But on the upside I’m now convinced
I’ll become a saint of some renown

12. The Mother - Helene Latey

The mother has no more tears to cry
Her child was suckled till her teat ran dry
But she knows better than to wonder why
She knows if asked you would only deny
She just waits and watches the passersby
To see if they’ll stop and realise
That it is their own nature that they defy
And she decides who lives or dies

11. The Stream - Deris Gil

All is still within these walls
Quiet, despite the rain that falls
And I wonder if I’m meant to mourn
The weight of losses I have worn
But then the sky cuts through
And a wist of rain washes me too
And now there’s peace within these walls
I find my peace where the rain here falls

10. The Attic - Hannah Marshall

It was from these windows I did see
The world play out a show for me
The shadows danced around the trees
The sun did hide for the stars to peek

And oh the flowers played their part
I watched them bud, then fall apart
All as the wind, “hooed” and “harked”
A song that called each day to start

And each day they played unrestrained
Each day they awoke to dance again
And with only this window to entertain
I wondered if they’d keep me sane

9. The Serpent - Hayley McCarthy

I am the one whose loss
Would find no one to mourn
I’ve thought to dwell
But what for I ask
It would only just prolong

So take me now I beg you
It’s now for you I yearn
I’ve thought to ask
Well before tonight
But you never did return

8. The Tapestry - Emma Maye Gibson

I carry it with me in my skin
Each hair a thread
Each line sewn in

7. The Castle - Brianna La Rance

I’ll build you a wall that’s tall and high
So your enemies need not climb

I’ll build it in stone and the blood of men
So their moans will stifle your cries

I’ll build you a moat so wide and deep
That any whom pass you by

Will stop and wonder who loved you so
That they kept you safe and dry

6. The Mirror - Victoria Newell

It was a whisper that spun her so
A lingering whistle that kept her close

And though still, she swore they moved
Her lips into a smile just as quickly removed

But then, again, she saw in her eye
A narrowing, a glower, oh nature defy!

Surely mistaken, she looked once more
At the mirror, at the girl whose resemblance she bore

This portrait was a finalist in the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize

5. The Bite - Yolanda Ramke

In it seeps through my veins once blue
The shift of season changing hue

And when it’s past you’ll find me there
Under a quilt of autumn’s hair

My eyes will open to meet your own
And at last I’ll awake for winter’s bone

But in the spring you’ll find a new
What once was dead will come for you

4. The Betrayal - Zindzi Okenyo

The night did come in quickly
And I’ll admit I am relieved
The whispers finally dulled to sleep
For a brief moment of reprieve

Yet morning is not far away
Soon enough I’ll meet their scorn
But I beg you, please don’t ask me
Why I stayed despite the storm

3. The Ritual - Wendy Sharpe

The thoughts arise so often
I wonder if they’ll stay
To keep this nagging hunger
A little more at bay

I awoke again this morning
To find they didn’t leave
Perhaps they knew how much
They set my mind at ease

I’m thinking of inviting them
To stay at least a year
I don’t think they’ll mind at all
If I insist that they stay near

This portrait was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize

2. The Wedding - Ash Bee

To fall
To surrender
To rise
To conquer
It is to love
It is to fall in love
It is to be in love with you

1. The Moon - Molly Ellison

I hope you’re lulled straight to sleep
The waves caressing at your cheek
A full moon’s light will guide your way
And assure that you don’t drift away
But should that fail, feel safe that I’ll
Stay watching you from the shore a while