into driving rain
an old woman spits
buddhist temple -
an ant carries
another ant
feeling bored -
until i step
on a snail
letting out a fly i
let in a fly
This
beautifully-produced, plangent book is one of those books you want to
invest in and carry around with you. The first time I read it, it sat
me down, and cooled me off, and gave me heart. Months later, I read
it again, and again, it worked its magic. It slowed me, it centred
me, it woke me up. This is what I want poetry to do. I want poetry to
remind me of who I am. Thanks Matt, for this scrupulous, humble
manifestation, and to Coral Carter of Mulla Mulla Press for embodying
it as a book.
The four
haiku/senryu I have chosen (with some difficulty) are in their
narrative order, but as the little book works like clockwork,
plucking four of the cogwheels out, almost at random, isn't the best
way to get at the ticking mystery.
For Instance was
given a well-considered, thumbs-up review by Geoff Page, in tandem
with my verse novella, Mr Clean & The Junkie. As
Matt and I are such good friends (and I miss him so much since he
moved up North) it gave me a great deal of pleasure when our books
were yoked together.
But
just let me take the chance to assert that Geoff misread my heroine.
She is not - '… a young heroin-addicted prostitute.' Youngish,
certainly. On the cusp of young, but seen better days.
Heroin-addicted, no way. Gambling is her tipple. And prostitute? That
is moot. Perhaps she is what men of a certain generation would have
called 'a party girl' or a 'good-time girl.'
This
posting is focussed on Matt's alchemical book, of course, but the
happy accident of the tandem review gives me a window to refute a
misreading that has niggled at me for a bit.
A
later review by Elizabeth Morton repeated this error, and I began to
feel as if I had omitted to include a piece of crucial explication,
but when I communicated with Liz, she told me she had read Geoff's
review before she wrote hers, and maybe she had picked up on his
misapprehension. And so it goes. Anyway, anyway, I am thrilled to
report that Mr Clean & The Junkie has
been long-listed for the Ockham NZ Book Awards – but if the judge's
report includes the words 'heroin-addicted' or 'prostitute' I will
start tearing my hair out. And take to writing evermore adamantly
well-delineated character parameters. I can't help but feel that it
is my error.
Original
publication
Stylus Poetry
Journal
Famous Reporter
Notes From The Gean
POAM
short and taste
ReplyDeletegood luck
from - http://imagtalks.blogspot.com/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLove these Jennifer...something clear and bright amidst all the post Xmas violence.
ReplyDeleteI liked your comments on Matt's poetry - he shares my love of the carrying ant, amongst many other things - and I felt for you having your own work misinterpreted.
ReplyDelete