Numb and Number collects together poems written between 2011 and 2019. At its core is a confronting sequence of confessional poems which arises from depression and includes poems on the death of the poet’s mother. It also includes a number of narrative poems which range from a long poem in the voice of the former boy convict George Bruce in 1811 to a meditation on historical contingency in From a Train in Connecticut and some satirical poems such as Ode to Australia’s Most Ambitious Poet and Homecoming, which satirises Australians’ current fetish for travel.
The emotional range of this collection is remarkable, and the formal variety is equally intriguing, making this a long-awaited addition to this major poet’s oeuvre.
