Rae White

NationalPoetryMonth.ca April 27, 2023

‘clear skies’ by Rae White is published on NationalPoetryMonth.ca April 27, 2023

From Rae White:

“About ‘clear skies’ and my work

‘clear skies’ was created using an Instax Mini camera, collected seashells and a label maker. The poem was inspired by loved one, M, who enjoys the beach, the waves, the sun.

I am primarily a page poet, but I love to experiment with form, including visual poems, audio poems, games, zines, performance … anything that helps me connect with poetry and all that poetry can be.

‘clear skies’ was originally published in Baby Teeth Journal and in my poetry collection Exactly As I Am (UQP, 2022).”

Alt text for ‘clear skies’

Photo of a variety of seashells and Polaroid photos of seashells, placed on a rainbow tie dye background. Each Polaroid photo has a label underneath it, with text that creates the following poem:

clear skies

for M

by Rae White

seashells picked

& palmed

swelling lips

sunkissed like

glinting waves

i cup conch

between fingers

& drink you in

today

we are sunbeams

Rae White is a non-binary transgender writer, educator and zine maker. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth (University of Queensland Press, 2018) won the 2017 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and commended in the 2018 Anne Elder Award. Rae’s second poetry collection Exactly As I Am is out now through UQP.

In 2022, Rae’s Bitsy poem-game ‘stand up’ won the Woollahra Digital Literary Award for Digital Innovation. They have two poems published in Nothing to Hide – Voices of Trans and Gender-Diverse Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2022). Rae is the editor of #EnbyLife, a journal for non-binary and gender diverse creatives. They are the Events and Marketing Manager at Queensland Poetry.

Please visit https://nationalpoetrymonth.ca/ to read poems daily in April. The work will remain online until February 28, 2024.