Arsenic Flower (Dakota Feirer, Hachette)

Dakota Feirer’s Arsenic Flower carves meaning from masculinity and memory. Tender and intimate, this debut poetry collection finds harmony in two contradictory realities: the harm of the Australian colony and the joy and connection of Feirer’s hard-won self-love. Feirer, a Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr man, writes with a biting, subversive edge when confronting identity, the enduring legacies of colonial history and insincerity in some First Nations inclusion initiatives. The collection is clear in language and boldly creative in form. Free-verse pieces meander into mathematical formula, archival documents and mock recipes. The poem ‘Brachychiton Acerifolius’, for example, takes the form of faux botanical field notes to depict a struggle between Western science, extractive industries and Indigenous ways of knowing. Written by a winner of the black&write! Fellowship, Arsenic Flower demonstrates the richness of the program, joining past fellowship winner Wergaia and Wemba Wemba poet Susie Anderson’s Body Country in offering poetic counter-narratives to colonial perspectives. Feirer’s floral motifs evoke the edges of place and identity, while Anderson’s fauna-filled verse speaks from the geographic and cultural centre of Country. The two works offer a resonant pairing: one looking in from the margins, the other rooted deep within. Arsenic Flower is Feirer pouring his craft into the future of Country. It’s a healing expression of contemporary blak masculinity – one being shaped by the influence of women and sustained through male kinship. A vision of manhood that draws strength from vulnerability, contemplation and hope for the generations to come. 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Adam Novaldy Anderson is a Western Sydney editor, writer and cultural arts educator. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews