Natural Wonders

<p>The natural wonders in Andrew Sant's new collection of poems are unpredictable. They are not necessarily famous and unique. There are exceptions. Yellowstone National Park provides the setting for a herpetologist's comical overnight excursion; Mount Etna serves as a metaphor for seismic Italian cooking. Gondwanaland appears in a cartographer's dream. Often overlooked as wonders are spiders snails wasps and snakes. Though not here. Nor is an attention-seeking seal or a lone turtle laying her eggs late at night. Elsewhere a mischievous thief becomes a 'nocturnal wonder' the Yangtze River perceived as a casualty of human hubris at this globally pivotal time. Where there are famous natural wonders there are people often crowds. In one of the poems this is provided with a counter perspective: 'Death as a gate/ makes mass tourism look quaint./It must have caravans of fans.' It too is a wonder.</p><p></p><p>Andrew Sant is a substantial yet elusive figure in contemporary Australian poetry. - <em>Australian Book Review</em></p>