BN Oakman's poetry has been widely published in Australia (including in Best Australian Poems 2014 and 2015) and internationally. His collections include In Defence of Hawaiian Shirts (IP 2010) and Second Thoughts (IP 2014) plus two chapbooks. In 2016 the distinguished actor John Flaus recorded 25 of his poems on a CD titled What Did I Know? He was awarded a grant by the Australia Council. He was a nominee for the Pushcart Prize (USA) in 2014. bnoakmanpoet.weebly.com

BN Oakman

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say it with flowers

when that final curtain falls upon the meek
those supposed to inherit the earth but never do

let their resting plots be overrun
with an abundance of Good Intentions
entwined with gentling clumps of Indecisions
woven with tangles of Burgeoning Regrets
and adorned with bunches of self-sown Recriminations

and what flora might flourish upon tombs
of those who claimed they knew the way
and left us wrecked on shoals of their ambitions

surely vigorous thickets of Rampant Hubris
bounded by clusters of Creeping Contempts
with tossed bouquets of Odorous Arrogance
and to decorate their strident stones
some tortured weavings of Creeping Ego
throttling thriving garlands of Everlasting Conceits