Mandy Macdonald is an Australian writer and musician living in Aberdeen who is trying to make sense of the 21st and earlier centuries. Her poems can be seen in many anthologies and journals – most recently Noon (Arachne, 2019), Multiverse (Shoreline of Infinity, 2019), The Curlew (Spring 2019) and The Poet’s Republic (Issue 7, 2019). Mandy writes in the strong hope that poetry can change the world, even just a little. When not writing, she makes music and gardens.
My America
of course I’ll cry when it’s over
what do you expect
but for now I keep returning, returning
to your dark tropics
lost half-light of a rainforest summer
your slow pensive rivers, returning
to the luxury of your language, its syllables
like love-gifts wrapped in yearning
your name on my tongue is wine laced with gold
O my America
if I understood you I might
colonize you with definitions, harvest
your abundance, turn your riches into capital
but I’m no conquistador
Mandy Macdonald