'Afternoon Explorations' is a response in about 1900 words to the work of 19 Australian poets posted on http://
Australia.poetryinternational.org/
the Poetry
International Australia web site. The poets are Robert Adamson, Kevin Hart, John Tranter, Pam Brown, Michael Farrell, M.T.C.Cronin, Ouyang yu, Vivian Smith, Dorothy Porter, Noel Rowe, Judith Beveridge, J S Harry, Jennifer Maiden, Gig Ryan, Martin Harrison, Kate Lilley, Chris Edwards, Lisa Bellear and Emma Lew. The essay discussed the themes of nature, social sterility, alienation, poetry and magination, war, women and being female, the Aboriginal issue, immigration and the human condition including loss, death, recovery, the darker side of the human mind. It mentions how the poetry swings over a range of topics: philosophy, psychology, religion (Western and Eastern), ethics, the nature and role of poetry (and its creation) to global conflicts, their politics and characters and habits of contemporary life. Some of it is international, and some intensely localised and personal. It also shows how world influences emerge from the poetry - symbolism, surrealism, and poets such as Rimbaud, John Ashbery and T S Eliot in style and themes, and introduces the reader to the characters especially created by some of the poets as their 'voice' (Peter Henry Lepus the rabbit and Bluethorpe) as well as to the mix of humour, precision of thought,expression and imagery and overt statement in the poetry.