Cirrus@Austlit

'Rebecca Edwards’ latest collection of poetry, Plague Animals, takes its name from its penultimate poem, “Plague Animals: 1985” (101). The speaker confesses to crying when she first saw the sprawling concrete megalopolis of Tokyo from the window of a bus full of chattering Australian teenagers excited to explore a foreign country under the comforting wings of their host families. The “entire vista” of cement, glass, flyovers, and neon lights “was an accusation: this is what it comes to / you clever, / clever monkeys” (101).' (Introduction)