How Decent Folk Behave

we are all just one small disaster

away from sinking,

and sometimes you only realise

when you're gasping for air

On a daylight street in Minneapolis Minnesota, a Black man is asphyxiated - by callous knee of an officer, by cruel might of state, and under crushing weight of colony. In Melbourne the body of another woman has been found - this time, after catching a late tram home.

The Atlantic has run out of the English alphabet, when christening hurricanes this season. The earth is on fire - from the redwoods of California, to Australia's east coast. The sea draws back, and tsunamis lash out in Samoa and Sumatra. Water rises in Sulawesi and Nagasaki. Bloated cod are surfacing, all along the Murray Darling.

The virus arrives, and the virus thrives. Authorities seal the public housing towers up, and truck in one cop to every five residents. Notre Dame is ablaze - the cathedral spire blackened, and teetering.

Out in Biloela, the deportation vans have arrived. Every Friday, in cities all across the world, children are walking out of school. The wolves are circling. The wolves are circling.

These poems speak of the world that is, and sing for a world that may one day be.

'One of the most compelling voices in Australian poetry this decade' Overland Literary Journal

'a powerful and fearless storyteller' Dave Eggers

'Readers are left with the sense they have been seen, heard and understood' Books + Publishing

“Clarke is a confident and highly skilled writer - Hannah KentMaxine Beneba Clarke is on fire. These poems sizzle and flare with radiant heat, with pride, anger, power. - Booktopia on CARRYING THE WORLD Carrying the World is impressive in its passion and vigour. Clarke's writing, in this collection and in The Hate Race alike, is fresh, and her voice is confident, and unlike anything else in our literary landscape. - Fiona Wright, Sydney Morning Herald on CARRYING THE WORLD”

How Decent Folk Behave is an exploration of the systemic failures that have led to lockdowns, massacres, violence against women and worsening natural disasters over the past decade. This collection of poetry is, in a word, relentless. Dealing with the local and global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bushfires that ravaged Australia, the murders of Jill Maher and Eurydice Dixon, the Christchurch Massacre and more, Maxine Beneba Clarke asks: what led to this? In this collection Clarke acts as a steady guiding hand that enables the reader to look directly at recent history and acknowledge the increasing difficulty of processing tragedies that seem beyond our control. There are precious few moments of hope scattered throughout the book, but Clarke delivers each poem with characteristic empathy. Each one pulls the reader in, establishes familiarity and ultimately unsettles with the author's typical punchy style. Fans of Clarke's previous collection Carrying the World will instantly recognise her live-poetry sense of rhythm and pace. How Decent Folk Behave is not gentle, but it does not leave the reader feeling helpless. Instead, readers are left with the sense that they have been seen, heard and understood. An important contribution to the political poetry emerging from Australia's current state of affairs, it will sit comfortably next to titles such as Gregg Dreise's Common Wealth and Jazz Money's how to make a basket. Chris Alphonso is a writer and freelance editor from Melbourne.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian poet and writer of Afro-Caribbean descent. She is the ABIA and Indie award-winning author of Carrying the World (2016), Foreign Soil (2017) and The Hate Race (2018). She is the author of five books for children, including the CBCA and Boston Globe/Horn Prize award-winning picture book The Patchwork Bike (2016, illustrated by Van T Rudd), and the critically acclaimed Wide Big World (2018, illustrated by Isobel Knowles). Maxine is the author-illustrator of two picture books, Fashionista (2019) and When We Say Black Lives Matter (2020). She also illustrated the picture book 11 Words for Love (2022), written by Randa Abdel-Fattah. We Know A Place is the third picture book she has both written and illustrated.

we are all just one small disaster away from sinking, and sometimes you only realise when you're gasping for air On a daylight street in Minneapolis Minnesota, a Black man is asphyxiated - by callous knee of an officer, by cruel might of state, and under crushing weight of colony. In Melbourne the body of another woman has been found - this time, after catching a late tram home.The Atlantic has run out of the English alphabet, when christening hurricanes this season. The earth is on fire - from the redwoods of California, to Australia's east coast. The sea draws back, and tsunamis lash out in Samoa and Sumatra. Water rises in Sulawesi and Nagasaki. Bloated cod are surfacing, all along the Murray Darling.The virus arrives, and the virus thrives. Authorities seal the public housing towers up, and truck in one cop to every five residents. Notre Dame is ablaze - the cathedral spire blackened, and teetering.Out in Biloela, the deportation vans have arrived. Every Friday, in cities all across the world, children are walking out of school. The wolves are circling. The wolves are circling. These poems speak of the world that is, and sing for a world that may one day be. 'One of the most compelling voices in Australian poetry this decade' Overland Literary Journal 'a powerful and fearless storyteller' Dave Eggers'Readers are left with the sense they have been seen, heard and understood' Books + Publishing

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