Keri Glastonbury Invites You: Read This Poem Like a Lana Del Rey Video

During Australian Poetry Month, Keri Glastonbury offered readers a unique and fascinating insight into her craft, guiding them through one of her recent poems. What makes her approach particularly compelling is her invitation to experience the work with a very specific, evocative lens, prompting us to consider how we engage with a poem's atmosphere as much as its words.

The Poet's Personal Soundtrack

Glastonbury's suggestion to "Read it like a Lana Del Rey video … with ibises" is a masterclass in setting an interpretive mood. It’s not merely a descriptive phrase but an instruction that immediately conjures a specific aesthetic: a blend of nostalgic melancholy, cinematic grandeur, and perhaps a touch of unsettling realism. For a poet to provide such a clear, imaginative framework for their work is a generous act. It acknowledges that a poem isn't just text on a page; it's an experience, a feeling, an atmosphere. The "ibises" add a distinctly Australian, gritty element to the dreamy, stylized world of a Lana Del Rey video, grounding the high artifice in a very tangible, sometimes mundane, reality. This instruction encourages readers to tap into an emotional register before even absorbing the narrative, inviting a sensory, almost synesthetic reading.

Crafting from the Everyday

The poem itself draws its inspiration from a camping trip to the Warrumbungles, weaving together threads of Australia, family, and the deeply personal experience of ageing. This highlights a fundamental truth about poetry: that profound insights often emerge from the mundane details of life. A simple trip becomes the crucible for larger reflections on national identity, the passage of time, and the evolving dynamics within a family unit. Glastonbury's willingness to openly address the physical signs of "obviously ageing" with such directness speaks to the authenticity that resonates so powerfully in good poetry. It’s an honest confrontation with a universal experience, framed through her unique perspective.

Echoes of Society and Memory

Within the fabric of her personal narrative, Glastonbury also touches on broader societal themes, hinting at observations on contemporary Australia and the weight of history. The poem implicitly acknowledges how personal memory and collective history are intertwined, how a present-day reflection can open doorways to understanding the past. Her allusions to socio-economic concerns, like the issue of Aged Care, and the cultural touchstones like "Winnie Blue" or historical archives like "Trove," ground the poem in a specific cultural landscape. These details don't just decorate the poem; they are integral to its meaning, inviting readers to consider their own place within these shared experiences and historical narratives, further enriched by the personal lens of ageing and family life.

Glastonbury’s approach is a beautiful reminder that poetry is an invitation to inhabit a moment, a mood, a landscape, both internal and external. By offering us such a vivid prompt, she not only illuminates her own work but also encourages us to seek out those elusive, undefinable qualities in every poem we encounter. It’s a generous guide for both reading and writing, reminding us that sometimes, the most precise instruction for understanding a poem isn’t about its structure or its symbolism, but simply how it feels.

Related reading: The Guide to Reading and Writing Poetry Without the Intimidation.