Unearthly Screams
written by: Michael J Leach
Tasmania, 1882
Unearthly screams pierced the bush that night
as a settler trudged by lantern light.
He felt the cold, fresh fear & remorse.
He prayed to soon find a skittish horse
who’d heard those screams & bolted in fright.
He held his farrier’s tool so tight,
his muscles ready for flight or fight.
This man feared nothing except, of course,
unearthly screams.
As those screams loudened, he glimpsed a sight
that made him wish he were a bush knight
like late Ned Kelly, who was, of course,
scared of nothing yet taken by force.
He held his breath & pressed on despite
unearthly screams.
Michael J. Leach lives on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Australia. Michael’s poems reside in journals such as Cordite, anthologies such as The Best Australian Science Writing 2024 (NewSouth Publishing), and his books Chronicity (MPU), Natural Philosophies (RWP), and Rural Ecologies (ICOE Press). A fourth book, Chords in the Soundscapes, is forthcoming from Ginninderra Press. Michael’s poems have received recognition: first place in the UniSA Mental Health and Wellbeing Poetry Competition, commended in the Hippocrates Prize, joint first place and longlisted in the poetry category of the MSB Confidence Writing Competition, shortlisted in the poetry category of the Woollahra Digital Literary Award, highly commended and longlisted in the Liquid Amber Poetry Prize, longlisted in the UC Health Poetry Prize, and highly commended in the Hush Foundation Kindness in Healthcare Writing Prize.
Latest posts by Michael J. Leach (see all)
- A Lane Full of Personalised Plates - April 18, 2025
- Senryu Songs - May 22, 2024
- Sunday Morning Flight - January 28, 2024
