DoomerBloomerZoomer
Jamali Bowden
Helvetica Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.
This collection of five poems explores feelings of anger, fear and hopelessness due to the current state of the world and raises some questions about what is to be done.
Fire
Hot, Dry
Hot, Dry
Heat
Hotter, Drier
Hotter, Drier
Heat (no rain)
Hotter, Drier
Heat (no rain)
Hotter, Drier
Hottest day
Hottest day today
Hottest day tomorrow
Hottest day next week
Heat Hot Dry
Fire
Prepare for Fire, Pack bag for Fire
Prep home for Fire
Fire Fire Fire Fire Fire! Fire! Fire!
Flee from Fire, Burning Fire, More Fire, Fire, Raging Fire, More Fire, Fire
Fighting Fire with water, Fighting Fire with prayers, Fighting Fire in old boots, Fighting Fire in old helmets, Volunteers Fighting Fire, risking lives Fighting Fire, Fighting Fire with prayers.
Fighting Fire with water, Fighting fire with water, Fighting drought with, Fighting Fire, Fighting drought, Fighting
‘In summer the bushfires rage and rage and rage on such beautiful days and we fight them with water that runs through the cracks, water we’re desperately trying to save…’
Losing
Losing homes, losing memories, losing loved ones, losing loved ones, losing wildlife, Losing forest, Losing childhood rainforest, losing, losing,
Losing knowedge
First people know / knew / know how to live with fire
How to manage fire
Empire can’t handle fire
Empire consequence fire
Empire Emp ire Em pyre
Our planet isn’t dying, it’s being killed (I believe in self-defense)
These muthafuckas have names and addresses
These muthafuckas have names and addresses
These muthafuckas have names and addresses
These Muthafuckas Have Names And Addresses
These Muthafuckas Have Names And Addresses
These Muthafuckas Have Names And Addresses
THESE MUTHAFUCKAS HAVE NAMES AND ADDRESSES!
THESE MUTHAFUCKAS HAVE NAMES AND ADDRESSES!
THESE MUTHAFUCKAS HAVE NAMES AND ADDRESSES!
Doomer Thoughts
All the New Left brought us was purity tests and woke overlords
All our tactics are cul-de-sacs, symbolic acts, representations that harken back to a power to attack
We’ve planted flags of identity on crests of waves we’ve mistaken for hills to die on
All our “revolutionary” organisations are just bad end-of-the-world support groups
We kill conspiracy theorists when they’re right and scold them when they’re wrong like it’s not just another cope
There are things we don’t say because it’s cool to hate cops but also cool to act like them
There’s that Utah Phillips quote we all know but do nothing about because the people who are killing the planet also own foundations and non-profits that siphon our good will into insurance against revolution
NGOs tell you they’d make better use of your money than the frivolous poors or insane radicals
(My social media is at least 25% people in need who know how to spend their money.)
Social media is to a social life what gum is to food
Self-serve check-out machines don’t have name tags, but they probably will once they get rid of the people
Community feels like a half-truth at this point
All our art can do is acknowledge our complicity
Page BreakIn Conversation With Competing Ideas of Freedom and How We Move Towards It
What is Imperialism?
What is a state?
Can you fight the former without the latter?
What are Colonialism, Settler-Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism?
How deep are their roots in our lives and imaginations?
Do you trust the news cycle?
Can you afford to not follow it if you don’t?
(Are all lies baseless?
Or is the war of information fought entirely in half-truths?)
Is a conquering army of humanitarians ever better than a local despot?
(Are these the only choices?)
How often is the suffering of others used as propaganda?
What does care on a global scale look like?
Page Break
Damage Control Is Our Utopia
Apocalypse doesn’t mean the end
it means a great revealing
is the mantra of the revolution,
now.
Taboo and Lore
ignored
heaven
except
And now the Millenarians were right about everything
We’ve lived centuries of doomsdays leading up to now
how do you think I got here?
My name is Jamali Bowden (he/him) I am a third-year creative writing student at Latrobe. My practice is largely based in poetry but over the course of my degree I have written in a variety of forms including short story and creative non-fiction. My practice often explores the musicality of words and their structures. I have a fascination with widely held feelings of isolation, climate change and their origins and how they may be alleviated. Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic my practice has become much more focused on curation of my existing works and a more rigorous process of editing. Following this festival, I am looking to gain more experience as an editor.
Follow Me on IG @jamali_brand_content