Grinding Welds
For Dillon Wu
I watch the vicious
hands of apathy dancing on the news—
gnarled fingers riddled
with deadly safety hazards.
I refuse to tighten
my lips to coil rope around
my mouth.
Some look in horror.
Others despise the attention.
And the rest turn
until the dust
of desperation springs
out of the rope, a tribe
running to battle.
And the Ai Group saw
the wild storm coming
at 9:30 a.m.
and it howled
and it sizzled
and it took
and by 10 a.m. Dillon Wu
was gone.
At first apathy
is a quiet charm,
it warms the body.
A carer taking off
your jacket—
asking you
what you want to drink.
Then it is a chainsaw
ready to do
the only thing it can:
making you
from devastation.
Vidya: Tell us about your practice.
Magan: My current poetic practice involves reading and writing poetry, including a research project that looks at how reading and writing poetry helps individuals develop a richer inner life.
I started writing poetry when I was in high school. I wanted to make sense of what I was going through and found that poetry was a powerful tool to help me understand my world. Writing for me is about understanding the human experience so that grief doesn’t ruin us. I wrote a book called From Grains to Gold. And in the collection I explore grief. Each chapter in the book is dedicated to a stage of the 5 stages of grief.
What prompted you to write ‘Grinding Welds’?
Currently I am obsessed with apathy. I hate it. Apathy is a central figure in the lives of many people, and I believe it plays a crucial role in human suffering. ‘Grinding Welds’ is a response to the death of Dillon Wu and the response of those responsible for his safety. Dillon was a young man looking to empower himself. He started his dream job at a prestigious metal engineering apprenticeship with the training arm of Australian Industry Group. Despite Australian Industry Group knowing the environment was a high risk for danger, they sent Dillon Wu to begin his apprenticeship. Subsequently he lost his life.
I loved how the poem only spends a quick forceful stanza on the actual event of Dillon Wu’s death.
I didn’t want to repeat the trauma of the news. I wanted to highlight the ways in which the powerful get away with negligence and other transgressions. I thought about those who loved him and felt if I was to write about Dillon Wu’s death, I would have to highlight what happened to him without going into how he died. It is a difficult task writing about the loss of a human being. You want to be respectful and sensitive but you also have the responsibility to speak the truth.
What’s a political poem for you?
I believe poetry has the ability to help people connect with the reality of the world; and so poetry plays an important role in addressing contemporary events. John Forbes’ ‘Love Poem’ is a good example of a political poem—but I think it’s quite interesting to note that Forbes found political poems ‘problematic’. ‘Love Poem’ actually appears to be a contradiction of his belief with its reference to the Gulf War and other military technology. When I studied his work, I came to realise that for Forbes, one must allow the poem to take the wheel, to let the poem take you where it is going. Such a perspective resonates with me as I believe poems articulate the truth of our lives in a way that is natural, and in that poems reveal the politics of the world.
Who are some current poets you turn to?
Some of the poets I turn to are Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, David Whyte, Warsan Shire, Derek Walcott and John Forbes.
Love his work? You can buy Magan’s stunning new collection From Grains to Gold here.
Editor’s note: Read more about Dillon Wu and the events Magan’s poem is responding to here.
About the author
vidya rajan is a writer, editor and performance-maker. she currently lives in melbourne and is a writer in residence at the malthouse theatre. you can get in touch on twitter.