Agonist

‘grounded in the body and its pain, deo’s stunning poems move beyond the merely philosophical. the agonists of this book – bodies damaged by conflict or ideology, love or loss – are viscerally and exquisitely real.’ Maria Takolander

‘precise, incisive and surreal, shastra deo’s poems govern the space between beauty and terror. without doubt, a remarkable new voice has arrived.’ Bronwyn Lea

‘The Agonist exists somewhere between a haunted forest and a dissecting bench, demonstrating that the realities of the physical body are just as strange (and terrifying) as anything in fable or myth. At once tender and forensic, Shastra Deo’s poems ask what it means to inhabit a body which collects its own souvenirs of experience, and from which it is impossible to gain reprieve. This is a poetry of blood, smoke and communion – where one is as likely to encounter a boxer’s knuckles as the velvet of antlers; where tiny fish swimming in the lungs of the drowned are as present as a lover’s hands. A striking and memorable debut.’ Chloe Wilson

‘full of the beautiful music of fracture and repair … exhilarating in its risk and energy, surprising in its evocations and work with form, this is a distinctive collection.’ – Judges’ comments, Thomas Shapcott Prize

Shastra Deo was born in Fiji, raised in Melbourne, and lives in Brisbane. She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Writing and English Literature, First Class Honours
and a University Medal in Creative Writing, and a Master of Arts in Writing, Editing and Publishing from The University of Queensland. The Agonist is her first book.

i

Five 3

Scorched Earth 4

; or, Lexical Gaps 6

A Manual for the Prevention of Hauntings 7

Mississippi Sound 9

Baptism 10

There Is a Cure 11

Departure 13

Suburban Witchcraft 14

Victimless Leather 16

Bad Ritual 17

Road Trip 19

Arrhythmia 20

Haven 23

Anatomy of Being 24

6 PM 25



II

Cutman 29

The Soldier (1); or, A White Stone in a Deep Well 31

The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry:

Index of Titles and First Lines—H 32

The Boxer’s Son (3) 33

martyr 35

The Soldier (2) 36

The Boxer’s Son (2) 38

The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry:

Index of Titles and First Lines—L 39

starve 40

The Soldier (3) 41

The Boxer’s Son (1) 42

The Soldier (4) 43

light 44

The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry:

Index of Titles and First Lines—T 45

Tenebrae 46



III

Honestly 51

Imago 52

When I Think of My Brother 53

The Arrival of the Bee Box 55

Concerning Divination 56

Scout Tests and How to Pass Them 57

Full Moon 61

Knife-Edge 62

What Followed 63

I Saw the Devil in the Cane Fields 64

The Bering Sea 66

Little Fists 68

Tarotology 69

Homecoming 74

Chine 77

Salt, Sugar 78

Notes 80

Acknowledgements 86