the body country by Susie Anderson
“physical presence on Country
becomes care for the self
becomes interior romantic love”
the body county (2023) is a stunning new collection of poetic work from Wergaia and Wemba Wemba woman Susie Anderson that lovingly traces her meditations of place – both internal and external – and the plains that exist between the two.
Winner of the 2021 black&write Fellowship, Anderson’s collection is fuelled by attentive moments and pauses as she spans rural and urban settings bringing together her sense of Country with touching universal experiences.
Divided into six parts with titles like ‘when artists talk about country,’ ‘go within,’ and ‘the water not the wave,’ we begin to get a sense of the journey Anderson is about to take us on. Each section contains only a handful of poems, but the impression they leave is lasting. In ‘Tiddas,’ a poem in the first section titled ‘time, place, country,’ Anderson reflects on the magnitude of self and Country:
“be part of something bigger
hear the ancestral lines speak
more connected yet clearly less one ‘self’
…
the body is just a container
containing me
a channel or conduit for story”
The duality of a body being an individual container but also the vessel for Country, our experiences, and ancestry is a strong theme that pulls us along throughout the collection – and it is divine. Anderson presents her core poetic thesis with an emotional intensity that is at once fierce and soothing. Simply: I felt these words as they entered my own body.
Language, its constructs, presence and translation are also themes that arise consistently. In the second part of the collection, titled ‘chorus,’ Anderson introduces us to the Wergaia language, with each poem taking the title of a native Australian creature or bird in this tongue. The section title already sets us up for the evocative senses Anderson will alight with these poems, as in ‘djinab’ (cockatoo):
“Screeching tears the sky apart. A massive rip
ricocheting through blue, clouds hiding a seam
(instinct to write ‘to the heavens’ but actually) to
Beyond. Clouds hiding a seam”
The theme of language and translation is touched on again in one of my favourite works from the collection, ‘perfect alphabet’:
“I heard the shape of Korean language characters is the
way the mouth looks when forming the sounds. Can
you think of a more sensible way to make a language?”
But the pretence of language is a subtle diversion for the real crux of this poem, a sentiment to poet's observation of a set of lips (bringing our attention to those fleeting attentive moments):
“You say ‘once
something is said it is lost forever’ and it’s true. The words
dissolve before me. If I could have seen your lips once
more I would have written down their shape.”
Anderson doesn’t shy away from some of the tougher realities of her lived experiences as a First Nations woman and the emotional weight that comes with being a black body on Country in contemporary Australia. She places these experiences subtly but firmly throughout the collection, but powerfully so in ‘territory’:
“Instead of our language, we were taught silence.
Generations kept quiet about the things that happened
somewhere else, other than our bush, to peoples
who weren’t related to us.”
But even in the midst of these acknowledgements, Anderson brings us back to language, her heritage of words and the Country that has kept them safe, ready to be reclaimed:
“Turn to face mountain and tree, feel others
grown from earth. We resurrect. We are laiurg-mal
treading the same path, reading the same country.
Spreading out across the land, learning more words
to write the place with.”
This is a collection that is powerful on the first read and only deepens with (absolutely necessary) further reads. Like honey melting over a hot plate, Anderson’s words will wrap around you, warm and inviting, as she folds you into her world.
There is so much more I could write about this collection, but the main thing I will say is simply, read it.
Elaine Chennatt is a writer, educator and psychology student currently residing in nipaluna. She has a special interest in bibliotherapy (how we use literature to make sense of our lives) and is endlessly curious about the creative philosophies of others. She lives with her husband and two bossy dachshunds on the not-so-sunny side of the river (IYKYK). Find her online at wordswithelaine.com
