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A Mountain of Tiny Courages
A third collection of poetry by writer/illustrator Darby Hudson that talks of gettting through the day, cats, and living a life full of poetry. Previously published in Best Australian Poems anthologies by Black Inc Books.
I need two things to happen while my hands to write the words, and my heart to somehow see possibility in them. And this collusion to become a continual, self-perpetuating process. Until a whole sentence is formed - something from nothing. It's like blowing wind from my mouth into the sails of this strange boat I sit in. And against all science and logic, arriving in some faraway land.
"What Keeps you from the ledge? A person? A place? A poem? Darby Hudson's work does just that. A reason to continue. To be understood. Just by his words." -Alexander Calvert, actor, Supernatural
"Darby Hudson's poems are radical in the sense that they are companionable, eager to communicate with the reader, and to celebrate humanity in all of its dimensions, textures, and states of being. You won't find those qualities in most contemporary poetry, which is laden with the intentionally obscure and preciously inscrutable. It's about time poetry became good company again, a feat fully realized by A Mountain of Tiny Courages."
-Joseph Massey, author of Rosary Made of Air
I need two things to happen while my hands to write the words, and my heart to somehow see possibility in them. And this collusion to become a continual, self-perpetuating process. Until a whole sentence is formed - something from nothing. It's like blowing wind from my mouth into the sails of this strange boat I sit in. And against all science and logic, arriving in some faraway land.
"What Keeps you from the ledge? A person? A place? A poem? Darby Hudson's work does just that. A reason to continue. To be understood. Just by his words." -Alexander Calvert, actor, Supernatural
"Darby Hudson's poems are radical in the sense that they are companionable, eager to communicate with the reader, and to celebrate humanity in all of its dimensions, textures, and states of being. You won't find those qualities in most contemporary poetry, which is laden with the intentionally obscure and preciously inscrutable. It's about time poetry became good company again, a feat fully realized by A Mountain of Tiny Courages."
-Joseph Massey, author of Rosary Made of Air
- GenresPoetry
64 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Darby Hudson
16 books57 followersWriter from Melbourne, Australia.
"Darby, Love..." published by Andrews McMeel.
Previously published in Best Australian Poems.
Instagram: @darby_hudson
Substack: @darbyhudson
"Darby, Love..." published by Andrews McMeel.
Previously published in Best Australian Poems.
Instagram: @darby_hudson
Substack: @darbyhudson
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 12, 2022
Profound. Covers the extremes of childlike wonder and observation through to dark cynical commentary on the lives we live. This poet is a bandwagon you need to get yourself on.
Highlight for me was 'We Earn Our Stories' and '4am Club'. Apparently I am a member of this club! (I would give you page references, but there are none to quote - very Darby).
Thank you Darby Hudson for being my friend in those hours of 'quicksand molasses of blackness amongst/ the ghosts of stars.'
Highlight for me was 'We Earn Our Stories' and '4am Club'. Apparently I am a member of this club! (I would give you page references, but there are none to quote - very Darby).
Thank you Darby Hudson for being my friend in those hours of 'quicksand molasses of blackness amongst/ the ghosts of stars.'
September 25, 2022
A fantastic and deeply personal curation of colourful and eccentric poems. Some had be despairing at my existence, others had me laughing. Darby has a deeply personal, tongue in cheek way of writing which captivates even novice poetry readers.
I’ve already shared some poems with close friends, and I foresee myself revisiting this little gem occasionally over the coming years.
I’ve already shared some poems with close friends, and I foresee myself revisiting this little gem occasionally over the coming years.
March 20, 2025
This collection of poems really touched me. Some poems are really funny, and I think Steven Wright would like them a lot. Some poems are very sad and I almost cried twice. Reading them just before 2am was the perfect time to read them, (I am on holiday from my bank job, and I also used to work at myer so this book felt very specific to me; especially as I used to always be awake long into the night and I do miss that). This book also convinced me to publish my manuscript this year online the way the author has done. It seems the most pure way to do it. I felt so much love and sadness reading this. Courage always reminds me of the word heart in french "cœur" and life is always a choice between fear and love, and it's definitely a tightrope between the two in adulthood.
"Don't get complacent and become a cog that
simply turns the days into nights." (so clever)
"It's hiding
In the dog on the leash being flown like a ground kite." (<3)
And when he writes:
"Middle of the night
I've found a speck of light -
a pearl layered deep within,
beneath the years,"
It reminds me very much of later when he writes about his mother who "Teared at the colours in a speck of sand."
I imagine that speck of sand holding a rainbow inside it, inside of him.
The poem "Onion" depicts so much of how I believe love works. That we learn love on each other, and cause pain inevitably. And who we end up loving later in our life, after we have hurt and been hurt, is left with the heart causing no tears (at least not immediately).
"Can I watch that cloud for 2 minutes and
be late for work?"
"So I wade through the days
and swim through the nights" (beautiful description of how it feels to arduously complete what is required [wade], until you can be free to do what is desired [swim])
"But if I start the day with a computer and end it with a computer
it makes me unconsciously think I've done nothing.
That I am a ghost." (That I am a ghost. <3)
"see skyscrapers rising out of the ground like grey tombstones."
"The night opening and flowering inside me. People asleep at
maximum REM."
"I can actually
feel the stillness of 'non-thinking' across the land"
"unmappable"
"when she finally couldn't talk much -
I'd call her and we wouldn't talk at all.
We'd just whistle bird song
to each other
then hang up."
"until I am atomised"
"to the warm kennel of my body,
back home." (inventive)
"Attention to detail isn't a
Resume thing, it's a noticing the clouds thing".
"Become So Good At One Thing
You're Stupid At Everything Else
Paint your heart into a corner.
And climb out the window.
Keep moving ...
backwards if you have to" (backwards if you have to <3)
The poem "Get Ready" made me wonder if my life was being saved.
"hitting the brake and
accelerator in the
closed garage of your mind"
"only crying and music are real"
The poetry is honest and vulnerable. Kind and still there's this optimism in the fact that he's writing it down. It's not defeat, and it's beautiful.
Joseph Massey is spot on with his endorsement of this book. Indeed companionable, indeed eager to communicate.
"A poem becomes a breadcrumb of sanity
and enough of them lead
you back home"
"Don't get complacent and become a cog that
simply turns the days into nights." (so clever)
"It's hiding
In the dog on the leash being flown like a ground kite." (<3)
And when he writes:
"Middle of the night
I've found a speck of light -
a pearl layered deep within,
beneath the years,"
It reminds me very much of later when he writes about his mother who "Teared at the colours in a speck of sand."
I imagine that speck of sand holding a rainbow inside it, inside of him.
The poem "Onion" depicts so much of how I believe love works. That we learn love on each other, and cause pain inevitably. And who we end up loving later in our life, after we have hurt and been hurt, is left with the heart causing no tears (at least not immediately).
"Can I watch that cloud for 2 minutes and
be late for work?"
"So I wade through the days
and swim through the nights" (beautiful description of how it feels to arduously complete what is required [wade], until you can be free to do what is desired [swim])
"But if I start the day with a computer and end it with a computer
it makes me unconsciously think I've done nothing.
That I am a ghost." (That I am a ghost. <3)
"see skyscrapers rising out of the ground like grey tombstones."
"The night opening and flowering inside me. People asleep at
maximum REM."
"I can actually
feel the stillness of 'non-thinking' across the land"
"unmappable"
"when she finally couldn't talk much -
I'd call her and we wouldn't talk at all.
We'd just whistle bird song
to each other
then hang up."
"until I am atomised"
"to the warm kennel of my body,
back home." (inventive)
"Attention to detail isn't a
Resume thing, it's a noticing the clouds thing".
"Become So Good At One Thing
You're Stupid At Everything Else
Paint your heart into a corner.
And climb out the window.
Keep moving ...
backwards if you have to" (backwards if you have to <3)
The poem "Get Ready" made me wonder if my life was being saved.
"hitting the brake and
accelerator in the
closed garage of your mind"
"only crying and music are real"
The poetry is honest and vulnerable. Kind and still there's this optimism in the fact that he's writing it down. It's not defeat, and it's beautiful.
Joseph Massey is spot on with his endorsement of this book. Indeed companionable, indeed eager to communicate.
"A poem becomes a breadcrumb of sanity
and enough of them lead
you back home"
September 29, 2024
3.5. Some excellent turns of phrase that capture special moments and thoughts and have stayed with me eg “the stained pillow discarded for hard rubbish, pregnant with dreams”
Other bits I liked:
“At night, I pull the tide over me
like a blanket and I’m swept away
in a grey ocean of sleep”
“The silence of empty rooms”
And some whimsy:
If I Were Really, Really Rich
“I’d employ a panel of judges
to sniff test my clothes to see if they’re
wearable the next day.”
Get Ready
“When a book,
a piece of art
or music
saves your life,
you’re ready to be an artist.”
Other bits I liked:
“At night, I pull the tide over me
like a blanket and I’m swept away
in a grey ocean of sleep”
“The silence of empty rooms”
And some whimsy:
If I Were Really, Really Rich
“I’d employ a panel of judges
to sniff test my clothes to see if they’re
wearable the next day.”
Get Ready
“When a book,
a piece of art
or music
saves your life,
you’re ready to be an artist.”
November 29, 2023
Absolutely gorgeous the sort of verses you only wish you had written
But there definitely his
he owns this journey..down trodden man
Cynically magic and all the more I were a bit sad when it finished so I’m on the trail for more from this guy
But there definitely his
he owns this journey..down trodden man
Cynically magic and all the more I were a bit sad when it finished so I’m on the trail for more from this guy
July 2, 2024
Darts like an Eurasian ermine between cheeky wisdoms and squinty observations of current times, as shown by someone just a step ahead. Once done, you leave feeling less like a tragedy and are, in fact, quite human.
April 10, 2025
Darby is the poet you want to be.. or rather the person you want to be, living his life, unapologetically to its weirdest, most authentic and mindful self. He poems exude hope and tenderness in a stream of not so tiny encouragements. I'll go get the whole collection now.
April 11, 2025
These works reverberate within me. Some of them, I immediately read a second time, thinking "yes, this is exactly my reality!" And soon as I finished the book, I wanted to experience it all over again. It's already a favorite and I know I will revisit it often, and forever.
January 11, 2024
I loved every single one.
"She was a Pisces" knocked the wind out of me.
Thank you Darby Hudson.
"She was a Pisces" knocked the wind out of me.
Thank you Darby Hudson.
July 4, 2024
nie rezonowały jakoś ze mną te wiersze i trochę mnie wynudziły
January 11, 2025
WOOOOOOOO
October 5, 2025
Darby is a prophet who sneaks in through the subconscious.
June 7, 2022
A brave little book, cultured organically, layer upon pearly layer, in a dark and gritty place. Truly a TRIumph, pun intended!!! Loved it!!! Bring on book four…
December 18, 2025
Darby masterfully captures the human mind within no more than a page. I love his way of writing poems. It's sharp and short but I don't lose sight of the bigger picture when all you want to do when you pick up a poem book is to have something to read that communicates ideas and emotionsbe exactly as long as the poem requires.
I got this as a free eBook on his website. I wished there was more to it.
I got this as a free eBook on his website. I wished there was more to it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews