Synkroniciti is pleased to welcome Australian poet and writer Doug Jacquier. “Reflections” was one of the finalists for our “Belonging” poetry contest and shows how those who have an urge to explore are not accepted by their communities of origin. New ideas, new places are beyond the imaginings of those left behind. “So they sit watching us,/ like hermit crabs,/ waiting for us to set out,/ assuming we are unlikely to return,/ and picturing life inside our empty shells.” The growth one experiences on a journey brings about the death and disconnection of of those ties that plant us so firmly in our home soil. Conformity becomes impossible. Sometimes in life we are the explorers, the ones who leave for new opportunity and understanding. At other times we are the ones left onshore, not realizing that our loved ones have outgrown the shells we found for them.
Doug has an affinity for imagery and metaphor. Sea voyage here is a symbol not only for finding new lands, but for new worldviews, new understandings, and ultimately for individuation–finding our true selves. This doesn’t happen when we fail to challenge the horizon and expand our understanding, although not all expansion is external. Arching, soaring language shows us the power of believing that there will be a place to make landfall, while shorter lines like those above show the fear of extending ourselves too far. The alliterative music is gentle, yet insistent, like waves hitting the shore between consciousness and the subconscious.
Read “Reflections” in Synkroniciti’s “Belonging” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Doug Jacquier has lived in many places across Australia, including regional and remote communities, and has travelled extensively overseas. His poems and stories have been published in Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and India. He blogs at Six Crooked Highways (wordpress.com) and is the Editor of Witcraft https://witcraft.org/. A list of his published work is available at https://sixcrookedhighways.com/published-work-2/.
He is an avid cook, vegetable gardener and occasional stand-up comedian. On any given day, his family and friends are variously amused/bored/dismissive regarding his lifelong addiction to wordplay.