Was The Poet Drunk?

But those locals—who have swum against these currents, Fought against these icy waters—Know that this ocean isn’t always dangerous.

These waves don’t just harbour death, Don’t only aim to steal your last breath. Maybe if you stay long enough, Watch the sun set, Watch the clouds part, You’ll notice—

the break, the serene silence, the sweet absence of violence.

Alexander Homoc was born in Melbourne, Australia. This anthology presents as his second published book, with Alexander publishing his first novel Will Ink Suffice? in 2023 at eighteen years old. This collection of poetry and short stories is a devotion to the growing pains of teenage years and to the uncertainty of what the future holds. The inspiration for this anthology has been gathered from various places, including family, past love, and the fear of being forgotten. Many of the poems and short stories within Was The Poet Drunk? have won local accolades, including Fig in the Night, which won the My Brother Jack Open Poetry Award 2024, Hope, A Needle Pulling Thread, which received third place in the My Brother Jack Open Short Story Award 2024, and A Mug from Goodwill, which was highly commended in the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize 2024. Alexander devotes his love for reading and writing to his VCE literature class, where he learnt that writing was not merely about words on a page, but about an act of hope—an act of defiance.