Gabriel Don reads from Living Without Skin

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Gabriel Don and I read together earlier this summer and I was so captivated with her work that I asked her to read for the blog so we could plug her new book, Living Without Skin. Gabriel is pregnant and probably delivering as we speak—anyway, as things turned out, we never did get around to her coming over to my place, but I caught her reading last week at the Parkside Lounge, and I’m so glad I did. Her language is succinct and stark—in the best sense of that word—with images, and strikes me a little bit like a Buddha slap. Wow! So that’s it. Gabriel Don was born in Australia, though she lived most of her growing up in Singapore and Dubai—her father is a pilot—so her accent is a mixture of the English and American more than the Australian—she left there when she was four—but it’s wonderful to think that these accents with their own images of language have influenced the way she sounds into something that is unique. Gabriel Don’s the real deal, that thought that feels.

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https://vimeo.com/352336496

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I will type out a few short poems from Living Without Skin that were not read on the Vimeo to let the reader explore more closely this poet’s way with words:

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The Alchemist

I let my heart lead
When I can’t get you out of my head
I think of the time you held
me like you would never break your hold
Memory turns lead to gold

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Untitled Poem 14

good morning
good morning to you
the sun is shining
just like you

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Untitled Poem 15

I do not
have
enough hands
to count my blessings

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April 23rd 2015

I write of sad things
and wonder why I am sad
I research scary things
No wonder I’m scared
But a poet must lay witness

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June 15th 2015

Rest is the hardest work of all.

June 22nd 2015

you need a mountain
for a waterfall
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Living Without Skin is published by Fly by Night Press, Gathering of the Tribes. You can check them out here:
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http://www.tribes.org/fly-by-night-press-books
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