Ghost Armies presents Andrew Sneddon's poetic works Fukuoka and The Wait-a-While Vine in one volume. Sneddon's connected verses explore two defining episodes in Australia's history and provide emotional and cultural insights of both personal and universal import.

Fukuoka relates the experiences of two Australian brothers, Alf and Wally, in a prisoner-of-war camp in Japan during the Second World War. The work contemplates life and death, brutality and kindness, beauty and horror, courage and cowardice. It reflects on suffering and the consequences of suffering.

The Wait-a-While Vine is a poetic imagining of the doomed Cape York expedition of Edmund Kennedy and Jacky Jacky in 1848. It presents playful vignettes of society in colonial New South Wales, meditates on convict life and the interactions between colonists and traditional owners, and follows the events of the expedition. Ultimately it is the story of an unlikely friendship.

This is an extraordinarily moving collection of poetry about love, endurance and the human condition.

Autorentext

Dr Andrew Sneddon is an Australian poet and writer living in Brisbane, Australia. An archaeologist specialising in heritage law, he is currently the Director of the Culture and Heritage Unit at the University of Queensland.

Inhalt

Fukuoka Author's Note and Acknowledgements Prison hospital, Thailand, 1942 Prison transport, Changi To Fukuoka, Japan, 1943 Fukuoka Alighting, Japan, 1943 First night Prisoners of war Signing up Off civvy street Adversaries Proving grounds Mum I. Grudges Invasion I. Cruelty II. Cruelty Brother Fukuoka winter Burial, 1917 III. Cruelty How I remember my brother II. Grudges Taking life Frugality A beating Despair Lessons Gold Tooth My brother Hierarchies III. Grudges Body and soul Beyond the wire Indifference The mine Bombast I. Memory Locale I. Kindness Alchemy The abuser and abused Night escape II. Kindness II. Memory Dignity Anxieties Death Amputee Reflections Overheads Eyewitness Pneumonia The turning tide Honour roll More friendly bombers, 1945 I. Liberation II. Liberation After Anzac Day in old age Tally Souvenir IV. Grudges

The Wait-a-While Vine

Historical Note How does it begin? The Brisbane River Departure Circular Quay Encounter Letters of introduction Blush Dinner party Learning the ropes At another time Surveying Proving ground Sydney City Arrivals I. An old convict recalls II. An old convict recalls III. An old convict recalls IV. An old convict recalls V. An old convict recalls VI. An old convict recalls Semantics Testing the instruments Jacky Jacky The water channel Provisions Shark attack Sheep Vines The hunt Termite mounds Superiority The horses Botany Those left behind Inquiry Campfire I Campfire II Journal keeping Quarry Invaders Journal entry I Journal entry II Journal entry III This place Journal entry IV Stumble Pudding Pan Hill The last hurdle The attack In Jacky's own words Last words Ghost armies An epilogue Aftermath I Aftermath II Aftermath III How does it end? About the Author