Photograph by Brendan Bonsack at brendanbonsack.com

Es Foong: 5 Poems from Clot & Marrow

Es Foong (Waffle Irongirl) will be reading at the Naarm launch of their debut poetry collection, Clot and Marrow.

Es Foong is a poet and spoken word performer living on the lands of the Wurundjeri people. Their poems have appeared in Australian Poetry Journal, Rabbit Poetry, Kalliope X and the Best of Australian Poems 2022 anthology.

Their performance persona, Waffle Irongirl has performed on various poetry stages including La Mama Poetica, Queensland Poetry Festival 2022 and Poetic City Canberra 2023. On-stage, they are the poetic analogue of heavy-metal karaoke.

Off-stage, they eat identity labels for breakfast. They are also joyfully part of the of the Sonic Poetry Festival 2023 organising committee, intermittently interviews poets at 3CR Community Radio Spoken Word program, and makes desultory updates to MelbournePoetry.com  – a VIC-based poetry and spoken word event listing website.

Their collection, Clot and Marrow explores the strange geographies of belonging: to family, gender, culture and oneself. It ponders boundaries; the predicament of needing to assert them even as they cause pain and separation. It explores influences on identity and the fault-lines of trauma, how these are woven into our bodies. It sees the power and the possibility of the pause – as breath, silence, a poem’s whitespace – and as an alternative way of being, survival and love.

The Naarm launch also honours Es’ poetic lineage with readings from three poets who have deeply influenced their work: Andy Jackson, Eleanor Jackson and Charaf Tartoussi.

There may well be waffles.

Clot and Marrow is now available from Recent Work Press – https://recentworkpress.com/product/clot-and-marrow/.

Es lives online at:
● waffleirongirl.com.
● Instagram: @waffleirongirl
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waffleirongirl