Image credit: Portrait of the novelist Michelle de Kretser by W.H. Chong.
https://www.textpublishing.com.au/blog/how-to-paint-a-novelist-by-w-h-chong
She thinks of Questions of Travel,
caught in her green box of reflection.
More of the gold palms of a Sydney Beach
or again to Sri Lanka to see her mother?
Her work, just like her past, is a neat stack
of books, in earth and ocean tones.
She must turn her back to being
Down in the City, The Lost Dog.
Notes on the person portrayed in this painting:
Michelle de Krester is an Australian novelist who grew up in Sri Lanka. She is known for the novels Questions of Travel, and The Lost Dog. Other writers who influenced her work are Elizabeth Harrower known for Down in the City and Paul White. All are reflected in some ways in both the painting and my poem.
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