VIENNA
ALM No.95, November 2026
POETRY
Ernest Hemingway’s enemies
(pantoum)
Ernest Hemingway had thousands of enemies
he said adverbs are the enemies of verbs
he said they are crutches
he said we should write without them
he said adverbs are the enemies of verbs
adjectives are the enemies of nouns
he said we should write without them
he had the certainty of a Jesuit
adjectives are the enemies of nouns
you can write a poem without them
he had the certainty of a Jesuit
he won the Pulitzer Prize
you can write a poem without them
he said they are crutches
he won the Pulitzer Prize
Ernest Hemingway had thousands of enemies
vienna
at night it wakes
in black and white,
frame by frame,
a film
orson welles
in a doorway
the sewers
footsteps on
wet shiny cobbles
on the ferris wheel
we talk about
cuckoo clocks
a long row of trees
anton karas
playing his zither
i whistle the melody
crossing the square
in search of
always
in search of
harry lime
a dada epitaph
(pantoum)
death beckons me and my devils
stop playing in the moonlight
i cannot accommodate them
i draw strength from the silence
stop playing in the moonlight
sleep is my ambition
i draw strength from the silence
stars fall from your fingertips
sleep is my ambition
toy soldiers march from my mouth
stars fall from your fingertips
i bow to the frailty of the body
toy soldiers march from my mouth
i cannot accommodate them
i bow to the frailty of the body
death beckons me and my devils
James Aitchison is an Australian author and poet whose work has appeared in the Adelaide Literary Magazine, Australian Poetry Anthology, Quadrant, Literary Yard, Aesthetica, and many other journals. His children’s stories became the Netflix series, Mr Midnight: Beware the Monsters.
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