tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83255994814430406082024-03-18T18:43:42.214-07:00StillcraicJennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-11270567924700015962018-03-12T20:31:00.002-07:002018-03-12T20:31:27.403-07:00The Paris End of '62 by Geoff Page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQK7TJrcNy0NXbhRh6DNIdY7WHvRqJq2jMmIS8ycFW2jY43JZmL0kU2cKgPD9iTNeWsGfsTv2_t4ekV7DHP-1uPGrtefChmvB2J5h6gJ5CLyfOxmqAFzmXTWWYYY1qmKB6ct9OKmIKRE/s1600/417xWvUDEBL._SX351_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="353" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQK7TJrcNy0NXbhRh6DNIdY7WHvRqJq2jMmIS8ycFW2jY43JZmL0kU2cKgPD9iTNeWsGfsTv2_t4ekV7DHP-1uPGrtefChmvB2J5h6gJ5CLyfOxmqAFzmXTWWYYY1qmKB6ct9OKmIKRE/s320/417xWvUDEBL._SX351_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Paris End of '62</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
In Armidale at Tatts Hotel<br />
in 1962<br />
the Ladies Lounge<br />
<br />
became a bistro - but that was not<br />
a word they knew.<br />
The 'continental' had arrived,<br />
<br />
a sharp, up-country coup.<br />
The tablecloths were<br />
chequered French<br />
<br />
and muzak with accordions<br />
seduced the knowing few.<br />
We smelt the mist across the cobbles<br />
<br />
from some romantic <i>rue -</i><br />
outside all up Beardy Street<br />
it was our winter too.<br />
<br />
The bread was long and thin and sliced<br />
precisely on the skew<br />
but memories of that meal from here<br />
<br />
are curiously few,<br />
chicken in the basket, maybe ...<br />
a three-day-old <i>ragout?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
It could have been a <i>Steak Diane</i><br />
or <i>Steak Die Anne </i>for two.<br />
There might have been a <i>beaujolais</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
or Mudgee red for all we knew.<br />
The philistines still stuck to beer.<br />
The girl, or my companions, who<br />
<br />
that night mixed up their verb or two<br />
have slipped successively from view -<br />
the decor and the day survive them.<br />
<br />
It would have been around then too<br />
I somewhat existentially discerned<br />
the guy I'd always rhymed with Seamus<br />
<br />
should really be Camus.<br />
<br />
<br />
Geoff Page<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-14456762808894923822018-03-12T04:46:00.001-07:002018-03-12T04:46:55.438-07:00A Queer Thing by Nancy Keesing<b>A Queer Thing</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
Wasn't this a queer thing? I stood with your mother<br />
At mid-day in her hot, still, polished kitchen<br />
Preparing a mountain of ordinary bread<br />
And wholesome butter. Where can be more quiet<br />
Than stifling Brisbane noon? I heard a tread<br />
On the wooden stairs - a slow, deliberate climb.<br />
"They're back early, and lunch not ready in time,'<br />
I said. And she: 'It's my husband, ten years dead;<br />
He often calls when all the house is empty.'<br />
'But I am here.' ' You are not,' your mother said.<br />
<br />
<br />
Nancy KeesingJennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-6699683125762561992016-07-08T06:37:00.001-07:002016-07-08T06:37:07.705-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Agnus Dei' by Marty Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXixmQ4b_g8dnfZrDTKdnNy7lWeWZYMc9mpPZeke6bzL063ZW2FcHqYAhkYKafCeVySUxB-e2ZW6b1nmcSfF39FCGuvc-WtHT6xzadGnfdT0kVWMDE0kF1-zJH56mV_WL2Zl1TkXrzJ8/s1600/Horse_with_Hat_front_cover__77059.1385936731.220.220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXixmQ4b_g8dnfZrDTKdnNy7lWeWZYMc9mpPZeke6bzL063ZW2FcHqYAhkYKafCeVySUxB-e2ZW6b1nmcSfF39FCGuvc-WtHT6xzadGnfdT0kVWMDE0kF1-zJH56mV_WL2Zl1TkXrzJ8/s1600/Horse_with_Hat_front_cover__77059.1385936731.220.220.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Agnus
Dei</b></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
carried the lamb in a sack on my horse</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's buggered, said
Dad, throw it in the creek.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The creek leaped,
dimpled. Small bubbles</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
whirled, it rumpled
where I was looking</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
the water shadowed
half-blue-black</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
deep just there with
duckweed floating out</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
the yards behind all
noise, the cattle swirling</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
up air swelled with
dust and bellowing.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Flies lighted on and
off the rails.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I took the lamb and
kneeled in the pudgy mud</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
both hands under it,
under the water,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
laid it carefully
into the shocked cold.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It hardly struggled,
there was so little left.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Put the bloody thing
out of its misery</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I heard in my head
as I pushed it under</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
and the water
shuddered.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Get the hell out
of that </i><span style="font-style: normal;">he yelled at my back</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>you macabre
little bastard!</i></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It
might have been <i>ghoulish, </i>he was good with words.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
yards were sweating hot</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Dad<i>
</i>wiped his hatband, the sack smelling</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
of
dry stiff flax, I wiped my nose</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
my
hand all mud and numb.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
birds hummed. In rain, in wind</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
go out all hours on my lambing beat</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
he's
the shadow of me, always riding beside me.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Let it go </i><span style="font-style: normal;">he
said, quietly. I let it go floating</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">it
bobbed and the sun caught the eye, closing.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Shush,
shush, said the creek.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Marty
Smith</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I
heard Marty Smith read at the NZ Poetry Conference and she was an
astonishment. She was on last, and everything had been pretty tip top
– but my goodness me she blew me away. And one of the nicest people
you could hope to meet in a month of Sundays. She posted me her book
</span><i>Horse With Hat </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Victoria
University Press) which had won Best First Book at the NZ Post Book
Awards, and that was an astonishment too. I won't go on and on. Get
your hands on the book and read it for yourself. (And also look at
it, because the illustrations in the book are another astonishment.)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Marty will be in
Melbourne for one week and it would be a shame to miss out on the
chance to hear her read and have a bit of a chat. (But in case you do
here is the link to her poem 'Hat' in Best NZ Poems with a recording
of her reading.)</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP09/t1-g1-t17-body1-d1.html">http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP09/t1-g1-t17-body1-d1.html</a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But don't. Don't
miss out. Three chances so your chances are good.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Passionate Tongues</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Monday July 11</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Brunswick Hotel 140
Sydney Road</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
7-30</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Tago Mago</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
744 High Street
Thornbury</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Wednesday 13<sup>th</sup>
July</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
8pm – 10-30 pm</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Dan O'Connell</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
225 Canning Street
Carlton</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Saturday 16<sup>th</sup>
July</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2 - 5 pm</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://vup.victoria.ac.nz/horse-with-hat/</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-31416419940832037122016-06-06T09:25:00.000-07:002016-07-08T05:03:12.188-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'The Violence of Work' by Geoff Goodfellow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t1mpfBaIGF23m3PUN7OIr6o_6-Wvbtcg8ydTXynn0T9jybfYryBuibkQer8vlqWWV8J5Rm5N9lZz1X5C2vJIl9ZxE8K_AAN28u3Es9hNaYzdVLuu7EkCaC6Bo2UGCuTGsxCGt7lTy9o/s1600/images+gg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t1mpfBaIGF23m3PUN7OIr6o_6-Wvbtcg8ydTXynn0T9jybfYryBuibkQer8vlqWWV8J5Rm5N9lZz1X5C2vJIl9ZxE8K_AAN28u3Es9hNaYzdVLuu7EkCaC6Bo2UGCuTGsxCGt7lTy9o/s320/images+gg.jpg" width="190" /></a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The
Violence of Work</b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I work in a factory</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i work a rotating roster</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i wear earmuffs & gloves</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i stamp on a press</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i still had my fingers last</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i work on a tally</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i'm told to work faster</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">i have smoko with Billy</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday to Friday</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> punch on punch off</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">i
play euchre at </span></span>lunchtime</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Monday to Friday</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> punch on punch off</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">i just do my best</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Monday to Friday</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> punch on punch off
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">i'm paid the award
for</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Monday to Friday</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> punch on punch off</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">i don't complain to
the boss</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Monday to Friday</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> punch on punch off</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">but complain to my
partner</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Monday to Sunday</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> want to punch on</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> punch on.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Geoff Goodfellow</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Punch On Punch
Off </i><span style="font-style: normal;">was published by The Vulgar
Press in 2004, so it must be kind of hard to come upon now. It was
one of the books being chucked by Frankston Library, so that's how I
got my hands on it. My father worked in a factory. A wooden box
factory. Yes, he and his brother owned the factory, but they both
worked on the floor. And yes, they both lost fingers. Law of
averages. One careless moment. So I was very moved by this book. And
very taken, also, with the musical intensity, and the compassionate
simplicity. Simple is never easy. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">http://www.geoffgoodfellow.com/</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-2417815556228222832016-05-17T06:24:00.001-07:002016-05-19T06:16:06.772-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Green' by Tracy Ryan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8Qjq4XesHurM9nuodUhHRN5-_ObUmm_iOA6JRv19HxLaZ06HY6EBrjwAlyh50ZjP9mzM7oyDtCA4UJxvXIsdthAFW8MyxP2ZCq0s6SnQ6nZihE-IRPlY3BrhsXlh6hBDr3fdxP0uC_o/s1600/9781863683517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8Qjq4XesHurM9nuodUhHRN5-_ObUmm_iOA6JRv19HxLaZ06HY6EBrjwAlyh50ZjP9mzM7oyDtCA4UJxvXIsdthAFW8MyxP2ZCq0s6SnQ6nZihE-IRPlY3BrhsXlh6hBDr3fdxP0uC_o/s320/9781863683517.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Green</b></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It began with marigolds</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that never showed</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">alongside the bungalow</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when I was twelve</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I learned you could tend</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and tend without</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">recompense
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">—
you either</span></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">had it or not.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Perhaps
it was earlier </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">—</span></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">those broad beans we all</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">cajoled on damp cotton-</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">wool in primary school,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">soil-less, dislocated</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as an idea without</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">context, one blunt end</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">marked with a sly smile</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">or was it a lid? the blind eye</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of a coconut where</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">they told us the milk</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">came out, though it looked shut</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">like the secret aperture</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">our baby sister</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">must have come by</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that I tried to picture</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">somewhere near</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the upper thigh</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">thinking it must seal over</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when out of use.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I was clueless</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as the broad beans, isolate,</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">generic, never given</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a real chance</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">feeding no one.</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Each lonely monad</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">aligned on the sill</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">worshipped in term-time</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as if that would boost them,</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">then on the holidays</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">forgotten and gone</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to mould.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Tracy Ryan</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Frankston
Library decided it had too much poetry on the shelves, so it dumped a
swag of it onto the sales table amongst the other rejects. 50 cents a
pop or a bag for 5 bucks. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So
I was trotters in the trough, elbows out, fending off the other
foragers — until I twigged that no one else was after what I was
after. So I calmed down and just scooped up the lot. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Except
the self-published book of bush poetry by an old contender, because,
after all, one must draw the line somewhere.) </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
came home with Kelen (S.K. and Chris), Salom, Hewett. I came home
with Watson, Caesar, Komninos, Croggon and Maiden. And Yasbincek, Lenore, Kerdijk
Nicholson, Tsaloumas, Wynne, Goodfellow, Skovron — and Ryan.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What
a handsome book </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hothouse
</span></i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Fremantle
Arts Centre Press 2002) is. And what a pleasure to catch up with it
after all these years. I don't know how I missed it back in the day.
I do remember hearing of it, I think it won a prize, but somehow or
other, you know how it goes. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
as to the experience of reading the book, well — '</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hothouse
</span></i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">comes
off as a precise and lucid aggregation of effects. Without wasting a
word, with quiet authority and integrity, the poet makes it plain.' </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">PS
The cheeky things at Frankston Library were throwing out my play </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Big Picture </span></i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">so
I put that in my bag for 5 bucks and took it home. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">PPS
On my next visit I fell upon </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Weeping
For Lost Babylon</span></i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
by Beach which somehow I had missed. I don't know how I missed it.
But I had. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/products/hothouse">https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/products/hothouse</a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-86265565857442732532016-05-03T07:58:00.002-07:002016-05-03T07:59:33.150-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Round' by Ouyang Yu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExOXTFuyTuE4s9_E7o5tkeXvtGcLvXost-pEb79pLYp10O63uWjlWkkRnuG-A9uGaSJ1UMbaP_DKXekb8q8BwYh4DGLlliiGG1-L7bsZPnDPyikXfA-7Uhm6EqGIbCXSsljJS6LfpaSk/s1600/Ouyang-Yu-cover-only1-170x240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExOXTFuyTuE4s9_E7o5tkeXvtGcLvXost-pEb79pLYp10O63uWjlWkkRnuG-A9uGaSJ1UMbaP_DKXekb8q8BwYh4DGLlliiGG1-L7bsZPnDPyikXfA-7Uhm6EqGIbCXSsljJS6LfpaSk/s1600/Ouyang-Yu-cover-only1-170x240.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Round</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One student stood up and said,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'the subtle factor that makes live endurable' is not
right</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as the word 'endurable' is not a correct</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">translation of the Chinese characters <i>yuanhua</i></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'What do you think?' the teacher asked</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Cai, a broad-faced man-boy. 'What words</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Would you use: “smooth”, perhaps?'</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Chen, the man-boy, with a constant hat, offered.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'Because it's more like “skillful” I'd say'</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">an instant knitting of her brows appeared on the
fresh-faced</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">girl sitting in the middle that did not escape the
teacher</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">who said 'What about you?'</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She said, 'I'd use sophisticatedly', when the hat boy
said, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'No, it's more than just that.' The girl went silent</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the teacher, instead of giving his translation, asked if
any knew what</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'long soup' and 'short soup' meant </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">seeing no one did he went online in search</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of the pictures but they were not right at baidu.com</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and were not available on Google or Yahoo</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">so he revealed that long soup stood for noodles</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and short for <i>huntun </i>or what is known as
'swallowing clouds'</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'Now,' he said to the class. 'You tell me what <i>tangyuan</i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is in English.' One girl said, 'dumplings', and before
the teacher finished</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">saying 'no' the hat-boy said, gropingly, 'round soup'</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">he won an 'Excellent' from the teacher </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">who claimed that that was exactly what he had coined</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and said that if there was <i>fangtang, </i>it would
have to be</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">square soup before he turned to the <i>yuanhua </i>again</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">saying how much delighted he would be if there was</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">an equivalent in English, a language still too primitive</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">for the <i>yuanhuaness </i>of the Chinese</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a two-character combination that literally meant</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">round-slippery, not eel-slippery</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">not oil-slippery</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">not even unctuous-slippery</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but round-slippery or round and slippery</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">on his way home, the teacher was defeated again</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when he thought of the impossibility of match</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">making the two languages in this single expression</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that describes a person's unctuousness, like oil or an
eel</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">or that denotes life's smoothness</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in a round manner</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as round</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as a ball</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ouyang Yu</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This salty, transgressive book is such a delight. It is
so tasty. With a big dollop of larrikin spirit on the side. I am not
a bit surprised it is shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize For
Poetry this year, alongside some other very toothsome books. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/2016-kenneth-slessor-prize-poetry
</span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I do prefer to type up the poems for my blog, even if
they are very long, because I get the feel of how they are put
together. It is like unpicking a dress to find the ins and outs of
it. Any secret gussets? How are the sleeves set in? Is the lining
skimped? Etc etc. And I didn't notice, until I was typing Round, how
very eccentric the punctuation and capitalisation are. And then I got
the rhyme and reason for it. It signals the arbitrary and laborious
effort of match making two languages. Amongst other things.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://fiveislandspress.com/catalogue/fainting-with-freedom</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-45245369918545271982016-04-18T07:34:00.001-07:002016-04-18T07:35:54.857-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Making a Rat' by Kevin Hart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasx1t4kIY-LPdpzQAWBowAo7_4yuSAtDHMZn5ZbRmclsb8haYrdT99_u1uxf-0wSn9INVSHxza2dNKZlQStMwsRbZJe2uzG9klxRFEdGCVCg_oJvKJLwRqqSFYFrInHLBYRuFnXIVY0g/s1600/P03172.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasx1t4kIY-LPdpzQAWBowAo7_4yuSAtDHMZn5ZbRmclsb8haYrdT99_u1uxf-0wSn9INVSHxza2dNKZlQStMwsRbZJe2uzG9klxRFEdGCVCg_oJvKJLwRqqSFYFrInHLBYRuFnXIVY0g/s320/P03172.png" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Making
a Rat</b></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
forget everything, and make a rat.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With little ambition
at first, an amateur,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I try a roof rat –
grey, long tail, sharp ears -</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But with a will that
staggers the human mind.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For months I labour
on those teeth, that jaw</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With strength enough
to gnaw through beams of wood;</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For years on end I
fiddle with those ears</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That make the lowest
noises stand erect.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I give up dinners,
seminars and sex</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To breed the things
it carries in its mouth -</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Those strains of
typhus, rabies, fever, plague.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I give up sleep for
weeks to make its eyes</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That pierce the
darkness as I slowly work.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
All day the mind
will multiply itself</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Just dreaming of a
whisker hanging right,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A foreleg muscle
tensing for a leap.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
My mother dies, my
father turns to drink,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And churchbells grow
threadbare warning me;</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And then one day the
postman brings a book</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Wrapped in brown
paper, without card or note:</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>One Hundred
Reasons Not to Make a Rat.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I
put in longer hours, buy classy tools,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">But
still the rat won't work. I'll try again -</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
time a Norway rat, eight inches long,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">And
from today I'll get it right from scratch.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I
have my knives, my books, a practised hand.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Don't
worry about that, I'll get it right.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Kevin
Hart</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">How
remiss of me to not have made an effort at Kevin Hart's work. I knew
'The Members of the</span><i> </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Orchestra'</span><i>
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">(and love it) but had hardly
come upon his work at all. Or if I had I suppose I promised myself
that one day I would get around to it. And then op shopping recently
I came upon </span><i>Flame Tree: Selected Poems </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Paper
Bark Press 2002) and that day had come. (Inside is written 'For Gayle
with all good wishes, Kevin Hart July 2002.') (Who is Gayle and why
did she off load such a splendid book?) A Selected is an excellent
way to feel as if you have truly delved into the span of a poet's
work. Kevin tells me it was reissued (revised and with more work) in
2015 as </span><i>Wild Track: New and Selected Poems</i> (Notre Dame
UP) so available for your delving needs, without haunting op shops in
the hope Gayle had taken a job in Brussels and dumped all her books
before heading off.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P03172</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-40827434482240006902016-04-04T04:38:00.002-07:002016-04-04T05:51:22.003-07:00Tuesday poem - 'First ... then ... ' by Melinda Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrWvkWn3jcpoNnzZc5O0i-Tu2giXL8dxGQKN4BJaS9N16e5X6cIo9fNq4lCndlBIr5guIA1S-CJP9ce6ToVjRWx5h6aCgYLvloPHLlJbJl_iAhfretugcpkTEzDR18A3ApB4AnucoOn8/s1600/2013-11-19_ak_80b1066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrWvkWn3jcpoNnzZc5O0i-Tu2giXL8dxGQKN4BJaS9N16e5X6cIo9fNq4lCndlBIr5guIA1S-CJP9ce6ToVjRWx5h6aCgYLvloPHLlJbJl_iAhfretugcpkTEzDR18A3ApB4AnucoOn8/s320/2013-11-19_ak_80b1066.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>First ... then ...</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>First change nappy</i><br />
<i>Then Thomas the Tank Engine</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>First clothes on</i><br />
<i>Then sandpit</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>First wash hair</i><br />
<i>Then chocolate frog</i><br />
<br />
First the only baby crying all night in
the hospital
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then the only baby wailing for the whole
of mothers’ group
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First the only mother convinced her
child was permanently angry
</div>
Then the only one holding him in her
arms and doing deep knee bends to<br />
calm him down
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First thinking it was normal to scream
until throwing up whenever we changed<br />
routine
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then shocked when I realised other
families didn’t have to live like that
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First astonished he could read at
eighteen months
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then astonished at his shrieks every
time his baby brother cried
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First proud of every fact he could
recite about the planet Jupiter
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then wondering why he needed twelve
weeks of physio to learn how to jump
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<i>First hair cut
</i></div>
<i>Then play with spray bottle
</i><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br />
<i>First stop biting Mummy
</i></div>
<i>Then play with sliding door
</i><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br />
<i>First poo *in toilet*
</i></div>
<i>Then flush </i><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First letting his father talk me out of
it
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then talking myself out of it
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First knowing those therapists just
didn’t get my child
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then googling autism with a chill in my
heart
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First joking about ‘our little Rain
Man’
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then realising the joke was on me
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First paralysis
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then fear
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First incomprehension
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then overload
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First Music Therapy
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then Homeopathy
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First Triple-P Parenting for Parents of
Children with Disabilities
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then Encouraging the Reluctant Eater
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First Occupational Therapy
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then the social worker
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First trusting the system
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then realising the system didn’t care
enough or have enough money<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>First sit at table to eat
</i></div>
<i>Then spinning with Mummy
</i><br />
<br />
<i>First swallow medicine
</i><br />
<i>Then build washing machine from
cardboard boxes
</i><br />
<br />
First reading lots of parent
testimonials
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then feeling like scum for not doing six
hours of therapy with him every day
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First wonderfully affirmed by <i>Welcome to
Holland</i>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then convinced <i>Welcome to Holland</i> left a
lot of shit out
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First talking to happy well-adjusted
mums of older kids on the spectrum
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then terrified our family would
disintegrate before our kids ever got to that<br />
age
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First poring over <i>Autism and Asperger’s
Syndrome for those who love and care</i><br />
<i> for three-to-seven- year-olds </i>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then realising the only book I needed to
read was <i>The Curious Incident of</i><br />
<i> the Dog in the Night Time
</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First joining support groups
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then walking out of meetings because the
horror stories people told at them<br />
could not possibly be true
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First counselling
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then drugs
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First sobbing to my friends
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then avoiding my friends and hating
their normal uncomplicated children
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First hearing that carers of autistic
children are as stressed as soldiers in combat
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then bawling my eyes out<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>First thread beads on string
</i></div>
<i>Then letterbox-counting walk</i><br />
<br />
<i>First stay at special needs soccer for
ten minutes
</i><br />
<i>Then computer time</i><br />
<br />
First nearly destroying my marriage
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then clinging to my marriage
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First regretting the second child
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then realising the second child would
probably save us all
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First wanting my husband to see things
my way
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then grateful he didn’t
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First mourning my old life
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then understanding you never really get
it back anyway
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First obsessed with getting the whole
family to accept the diagnosis
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then learning to take what help I could
get and live with the elephant in the<br />
room
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First shame
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then resentment
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First desperate for pity
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then desperate for respite care
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First whining
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then laughing
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First crawling through it
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then writing about it
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
First today
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Then tomorrow </div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
Melinda Smith<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While I was up in Canberra for
the Noted festival, I invested in a copy of <i>First … Then ... </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Ginninderra
Press) by Melinda Smith. I had heard her read some of them at her La
Mama gig here in Melbourne so I was pretty sure I would like the
book. Well I did like the book, but I was also incredibly moved -
moved to pity, moved to tears - and then, cathartically, moved on to
another place. I kind of got it, I glimpsed it. </span>I don't feel
as if I want to write too much about the experience of reading these
twenty-four poems from Planet Autism. Melinda wrote them. I read
them. Enough.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
All the poems are available to read on
the website below, with some intriguing explication, and there is
guidance as to how to source the book, if like me, you prefer to hold
a book in your hand.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
https://circlequirk.wordpress.com/</div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-35235425966310386702016-03-14T05:08:00.000-07:002016-03-14T05:09:32.532-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'A Romantic Woman' by Michael Farrell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP4A9NW5WpeRiuA6IfLm7e_LZs3mt34Woh65MvdtR3IWsB1IsGOWCvJx9q2pORnEl-9bYfTlbhNKLGsMdkEMRekOhXg-zUyqnj5vCoXlPhyQr99uJ3sqMm-B78SCQaoxPltkK9MXlUAo/s1600/9d5a45e5db7b57bf3408002bc56bd959_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP4A9NW5WpeRiuA6IfLm7e_LZs3mt34Woh65MvdtR3IWsB1IsGOWCvJx9q2pORnEl-9bYfTlbhNKLGsMdkEMRekOhXg-zUyqnj5vCoXlPhyQr99uJ3sqMm-B78SCQaoxPltkK9MXlUAo/s320/9d5a45e5db7b57bf3408002bc56bd959_L.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A
Romantic Woman</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Has sewn a bauble on
her dress tonight</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
She thinks about the
relation between</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
natural and
artificial light as</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
she drives through
the evening in a taxi</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Doubt becomes her.
If she were Catholic she</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
assumes she would've
toyed with bishops …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
agnostic it's
jackaroos that keep her</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
reading colonial
fiction. Danielle</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
loves being
twenty-nine (the pathos of</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
it) and dreams of an
earlier name like</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Muriel or Jean. She
smooths the violet</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sash her mother
would say meant 'die single</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The country can be
harsh like that. Next year</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
she might become a
novelist, but for</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
now she's happy with
the magazine world</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
the hair and makeup
boys, donuts on Fridays</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
She met someone
online recently who</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
carves his own chess
pieces and has a sandy</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
fringe, and she'll
meet Liam in the flesh tonight</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Warm and soft, she
says to herself warm …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
soft. The night is
floating with stuff: maybe</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
organic, but she
thinks wearing a veil's</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
underrated. I can't
wear a taxi</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
everywhere, she
jokes to the driver who</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
doesn't understand
why not. Danielle thinks …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
her friends, their
brutal ways with men and how</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
successful such ways
are. Men are afraid</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
she isn't strong:
yet she's been known to eat</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
tuna from a can (to
the right music</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
They don't know what
it takes to be her! She</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
wouldn't be an
editor for long …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Magazines were
arcades for Danielle, not</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
stylish training
manuals. Cigarettes</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
or insanity she
would quip (before</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
she quit). Her
therapist said she had …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Cinderella complex
but Danielle – in</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
a rare fiery moment
– retorted …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
you have
complexomania! Whereas</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
she was a deer of
the forest …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Harriet Shelley
without the river</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
bit, or the kids.
Really, her mind was drifting</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
into inanity. The
Melbourne traffic</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
wasn't like a
forest; she could surely</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
find better role
models if she needed</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
them. She would
never make anything happen</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Danielle imagined
Liam was probably</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
one of those soft,
toilet-paper roll kinds …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
guys with razor
blades attached to the last</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sheet. They love you
until then. I have …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
date with a bottle
of gin, she thought …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
a man on the side: a
moment to cherish</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
cherish, cherish.
She noticed the clasp</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
on her handbag
resembled a creature</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
with an unusual
nose. She began</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
to conceive of a
feature …</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
underrated beauty.
She sat in the taxi</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
outside the foam
party, the metre running</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
scribbling in her
notebook while the humming</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
driver played a
samba on the steering-wheel.</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Michael Farrell</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Cocky's Joy
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Giramondo 2015) is my pick of
the books I have read this year. Laurie Duggan opines on the back
cover – 'You feel there's a language being created here and yet
it's your own language.' </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">It
came to my mind that Michael Farrell was a Currency Lad.* One of the
first generation of poets to be born in the colony. That isn't
strictly true (it can't be true) but it came into my mind. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">*(The
term '</span><i><span style="font-style: normal;">currency</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;">
lads and </span><i><span style="font-style: normal;">lasses</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;">'
was used to refer to the first generation of children born in the
colony to distinguish them from the free settlers who were born in
the British Isles. These people were known as 'sterlings'. ) </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">While
I am musing on the old time way of saying things, I just want to
iterate how much I like the title. It signals so much doubleness. But
I found in a quick vox pop that quite a few people are not aware of
what cocky's joy* used to be in all its singleness.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">*
(Treacle or golden syrup. A </span><i>cocky</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is a farmer, originally a small tenant farmer. The word is derived
from the earlier term </span><i>cockatoo farmer</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
whose origin is the subject of several rival theories.) </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Honestly, this book,
it is a tour de force. It's a book that has a circus in its pants.
It's astounding.</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And I am astounded
that none of the judges for book awards have, thus far, given it a
nod. I can only assume the publisher neglected to submit it. There is
no other explanation.</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://www.giramondopublishing.com/poetry/cockys-joy/</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-61871299026298393192016-02-24T05:31:00.001-08:002016-03-21T05:35:52.296-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Reclining Nude' by Sarah Holland-Batt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Reclining
Nude</b></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>after Lucien Freud's </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Benefits
Supervisor Sleeping</span><i> (1995)</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So we reach the end of our argument with beauty -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the pink nude sails like a conch out of her girlhood,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">exiled from its whorled walls and tiger shell,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a refugee in her soft new body.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It happens swiftly, while she sleeps – one day she is
monstrous.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She loafs like a cloud that has drifted indoors</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and no longer knows what to do with itself.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In his studio, drop cloths slather the windows like
lard,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">apricot roses fray, olive upholstery fattens</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">into the great abstraction of her body - </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">flesh squidged over the couch in a thick salve,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">hillocks trowelled with creamy putty.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She has outlived sex. As she poses she dreams</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of long walks down Job Centre's fluorescent halls,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the monotony of standing-room queues. Her eyes roll in
sleep</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the way a bar of light rolls under photocopier glass,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">smooth as charity. The artist tells her to crawl, spread</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">her legs, grind her arse like a pig.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In the scrunched paint rag of her face</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">there is a crease, as if to say here intelligence lives,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">here the rational, the sceptical, but also</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">something that rebels, says <i>you are rump, hog, beast.</i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He swaddles her hips and boulderstone breasts, grouts</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">her moon-drum stomach in blue oil,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">winnows a hog's hair brush down her caesarean scar.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She has kernelled another body in her body there,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">perhaps one of his, it doesn't matter, he can't</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">remember if he has had her, the point is</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">she understands largesse, he can see from the way</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">she dangles the hock of her arm casually</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as he paints between her legs -</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">there is nothing to which she will not submit</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">like a nihilist Cimabue madonna</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">who lifts the son of god on one hip</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but shrugs her other shoulder</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as if to dismiss the weight of her gift.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sarah Holland-Batt</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I don't usually take to ekphrasis, but on this occasion
I make an exception. I didn't know Freud's painting when I first
read it, and I am glad I didn't. Because I have since viewed <i>Benefits
Supervisor Sleeping</i> via google, and now I can't unsee it. And my
first view of it was through the poet's eyes. And that was just
wonderful. Not that the painting isn't wonderful. It is. Which comes
first? The painting or the ekphrasis? It would be kind of
interesting, eh, to write an ekphrasis about a work of art that (so
far) doesn't exist. I kind of almost thought that that was what Sarah
had done. I don't know why I thought that, with such a clear signpost
under the title. Perhaps I was a bit stunned by <i>The Hazards </i>(UQP)
which is a stunning book. I was under her spell. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-9384376800945741952016-02-15T07:50:00.000-08:002016-02-15T16:37:36.095-08:00Tuesday Poem - Two Poems from 'Spring Forest' by Geoffrey Lehmann<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZPBrkvCClg-bYdW4ow_ufuF_9KS2SeaTF12nM5oZvE5c1bbzPbLvp9GvUHX-s2UfTDLrI1KuFvvNG3Q1QTfVlMDw0qW8g3Dr2ZdBSksgP-hrL7aeGgjXslW7NdXhDWYCUXT_Fbivjo4/s1600/geoffrey_grande.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZPBrkvCClg-bYdW4ow_ufuF_9KS2SeaTF12nM5oZvE5c1bbzPbLvp9GvUHX-s2UfTDLrI1KuFvvNG3Q1QTfVlMDw0qW8g3Dr2ZdBSksgP-hrL7aeGgjXslW7NdXhDWYCUXT_Fbivjo4/s320/geoffrey_grande.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Hunger
and Fear</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">My laboratory</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is the dust where I stand,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the sulphur smells of the farmyard.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Your tests show fear</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is stronger than hunger.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe true of a laboratory animal,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">bred so he's easy to handle.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But try the same trick with farm pigs -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">too big and difficult for white-coated technicians.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When their own grass is shrinking,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and the next door paddock is green,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">pigs will gather</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">away from the electric fence, and scream -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in their minds they are already burning.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Then they charge.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Small ones slip under, and big ones,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">tangled in wire,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">wriggle through – screaming as it crackles.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We are like farm pigs, half feral,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and the fences can't cope</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">with our numbers.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>George
Grogan</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">George Grogan's universe</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">had no numbers.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Droving, he would arrive</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">minus one or two beasts,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">uncorrupted by knowledge of his loss.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Apologetic for a life spent under the stars</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">George had never seen</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the inside of a schoolhouse,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">his only forte</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the habits of sheep and cattle at night.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Some of his peers had no letters,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but they all knew the numbers of their mob.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The simplest of the simple</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">was a man who could not count.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Geoffrey
Lehmann</b></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As I suspected, Geoffrey Lehmann's <i>Poems 1957 –
2013 </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(UWA Publishing) did win
the 2015 Prime Minister's Award for Poetry. And from a strong field,
of course. But what a book it is. I am especially taken with the
</span><i>Spring Forest </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(1970 –
2010) section. There is a dedication. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">FOR ROSS MCINERNEY
(1918 – 2010) THROUGH WHOSE VOICE THESE POEMS ARE SPOKEN</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">A way of life entire,
now vanquished and vanished, is summoned up with the cumulative
effect of yarns, snapshots, vignettes, musings, potted histories. It
is oral history transformed into … well, I don't know exactly.
Nothing I have read is quite like it. Maybe it has a slight overtone
of </span><i>Spoon River Anthology, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">but
it is entirely in our vernacular, set in familiar landscape. I find
it to be a very valuable and endearing work. It feels completely
authentic.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/collections/geoffrey-lehmann/products/poems-1957-2013</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-70545291459387948202016-01-31T03:33:00.001-08:002016-01-31T03:43:02.349-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'The Town' by Fiona Kidman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgHDKiBQwECP7G92j5trpPwHK0aHKBkHTKeyMdJeDcusUP4hTFk2W9g7JadoJ9i7MVOd6ZWFIxAgZv7UyisJqn0D51-X7y-P7sYsWEwxy6Yq9WiFYVAfuvfU8LN8FcJHH4ZwGebFdIMo/s1600/front-cover-jaam-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgHDKiBQwECP7G92j5trpPwHK0aHKBkHTKeyMdJeDcusUP4hTFk2W9g7JadoJ9i7MVOd6ZWFIxAgZv7UyisJqn0D51-X7y-P7sYsWEwxy6Yq9WiFYVAfuvfU8LN8FcJHH4ZwGebFdIMo/s1600/front-cover-jaam-33.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The
Town</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The town where I was known</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when I was young had a huge</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">metal archway at the entrance</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to the civic gardens. In spring</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">it was covered all over with sweet</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">sweeping wisteria. At the end</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of the main street there was a railway</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">station and an avenue of green trees</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that the steam engines passed</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">under. There were, too, vents</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in the ground that billowed</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">with sulphurous steam and gases,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">sudden fountains of boiling</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">water erupting from the footpaths,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">yes, it was an unusual place</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but I could have sworn it gentle.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But now when I return, people</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">who stayed on in the town</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">want to tell me about a girl</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">they once knew who they swear</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">was a wild one. She would go</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to forbidden dance halls,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">hitchhike at midnight in order</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to jive, hang out in seedy dives</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">drinking Pimms with unsuitable</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">men and skinny dip in hot pools</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">at the
drop of a skirt. (Well, I do</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">remember
something of a night</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when I
kissed a boy under a hot</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">waterfall
so perhaps we had</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">something
in common). For</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the
most part the descriptions</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of this
girl are the history</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of
someone I might have come across,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">glimpsed
from the corner of my eye</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as I
studiously read serious books,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and
observed, now and then,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the
picturesque landscape. It is possible</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">this
girl had a double</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">life,
but I wouldn't recognise</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">her if
I met her now. What I can tell </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">you is
that that girl left town.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Fiona Kidman<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I think
I have met this girl Fiona writes about. I know the town. And I know
that that (love the emphasis of the double that) girl left that town.
</span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When I
am reading a literary journal I am always on the qui vive for a poem
that - by some prodigy of technique, or with a preternatural
narrative ease, or because underground forces are at work that cannot
be denied - gives me a good going over. I tap out. I submit. I even
laugh a little. Well, that was a poem and a half – I say to myself.
And then I email the poet and ask – Please may I post your poem on
my Tuesday Poem blog? (Share the joy around, right?)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Fiona
answered promptly and gave me permission to post. I enquired if the
poem was to be in a forthcoming book – and it is. Due soon it
appears, as I google. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This Change in the Light
</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">from Godwit.
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTT775AfWc_clH0gp1-XrcZSgeyLQaPduZKreBCKkKx5fT5IbJqYoj5vw5hLQbjKsAynmCxtOaWHr4YEu41rhijEsvc9Zf1zZtN6EItVgupX43yd411crQlPYCxqHxjpDWKA-nxLJ76g/s1600/9781775538554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTT775AfWc_clH0gp1-XrcZSgeyLQaPduZKreBCKkKx5fT5IbJqYoj5vw5hLQbjKsAynmCxtOaWHr4YEu41rhijEsvc9Zf1zZtN6EItVgupX43yd411crQlPYCxqHxjpDWKA-nxLJ76g/s1600/9781775538554.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/fiona-kidman/this-change-in-the-light-a-collection-of-poems-9781775538554.aspx">http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/fiona-kidman/this-change-in-the-light-a-collection-of-poems-9781775538554.aspx</a>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And JAAM (just
another art movement) in which the poem appeared, is a mag I always
like to be in, and that I always like to get in the post and sit down and
read, because it is fresh and smart and knowing, with a well
odd kick in its gallop.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://jaam.net.nz/">http://jaam.net.nz/</a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></u>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-73525929034787305452016-01-24T04:03:00.001-08:002016-01-24T04:05:12.475-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'You can lead a horse to water' by Ann Vickery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1JS0KHMIdBUkCr6EhDhhYxuRtVvTHs5FPvzI8R2J6xh2KSTYoMJXizQhBNoviU3uIOhteWnQdYsO9-7ZoCoucdg45XR3Xr3WKG1fq3KDfWi-9BC7GzuYY5AOzesVTaNpuQGbr-znUw8/s1600/Devious-Intimacy-671x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1JS0KHMIdBUkCr6EhDhhYxuRtVvTHs5FPvzI8R2J6xh2KSTYoMJXizQhBNoviU3uIOhteWnQdYsO9-7ZoCoucdg45XR3Xr3WKG1fq3KDfWi-9BC7GzuYY5AOzesVTaNpuQGbr-znUw8/s320/Devious-Intimacy-671x1024.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>You
can lead a horse to water</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Because I am not into poetic husbandry,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I don't see the point of a desiccated dedication</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to desire; animal allure, the pre-emptive absence</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of a heart weighty as a hummingbird. Counting</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the hours spent trying to differentiate myself</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">from want or its dereliction, that four letter word</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">nobody swears by. On righteous days,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I like to fashion myself as a globe-trotting man-scold.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I've been told to hide jewels in strange places</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and sometimes wondered what other stylistic effects</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">were to be found had I checked the trough.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">All my good thoughts expatriated; they write</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> to
me sometimes,</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a little lonely, a little perplexed. Transnational </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">orphans in a romantic lexicon whispering</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">sweet annunciations to demotic farmhands dressed</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as yogi initiates. The love of a good obscurity,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">besting the next beast. Listening to the troubadour</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">at night-time croon:</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">o where did my amatory context go?</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
last launch of 2015 for me was Ann Vickery's </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Devious
Intimacy </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Hunter
Publishers) at The Alderman in Lygon Street. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gig
Ryan was the launcher, and was trenchant and mischievous, and the
book </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is
a bit that way inclined too. Or so it seemed to me, as I sat to read
in the slack, slow hours of January. An intriguing work. It was
almost beyond my grasp. Almost. I ate up the feminist ambiance, of
course, and I appreciated the slippages and coinages. 'Bobbergirls'
is such fun. 'Thiefdom' </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
mints new perspective. 'Furlicued fan', hooray. Much enjoyment to be
had with the plays on words. It was not an easy book for me to read
(for instance, I had to google to place Jack Spicer, who supplies the
opening statement for the work). But I so enjoyed the ins and outs of
it. I like a good cryptic crossword, and in some ways the poet is
teasing us this way, setting us delicious conundrums. And now I will
– '</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">sois
belle et tais-toi!' </span></i></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://hunterpublishers.com.au/books/devious-intimacy/</div>
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-66191158355308432792016-01-05T04:51:00.003-08:002016-01-05T04:51:59.625-08:00Tuesday Poem - 4 haiku/senryu by Matt Hetherington<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziD4dNK2iXKpjbYWI-H2Wseb66kXhrWx9ommE27JkzVfEPKaiafhY1jDb_xqYrpSRok-ko5_zsJ1796-eUoRhIValGr-br2SeFv4jWIpMm4aqy3akcCgmOBK8fVlpcp9o-h4bWQUnumI/s1600/Article+Lead+-+narrow998600892giwc1dimage.related.articleLeadNarrow.353x0.gijhdo.png1439527269006.jpg-300x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziD4dNK2iXKpjbYWI-H2Wseb66kXhrWx9ommE27JkzVfEPKaiafhY1jDb_xqYrpSRok-ko5_zsJ1796-eUoRhIValGr-br2SeFv4jWIpMm4aqy3akcCgmOBK8fVlpcp9o-h4bWQUnumI/s320/Article+Lead+-+narrow998600892giwc1dimage.related.articleLeadNarrow.353x0.gijhdo.png1439527269006.jpg-300x0.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
into driving rain</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
an old woman spits</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
buddhist temple -</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
an ant carries
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
another ant</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
feeling bored -</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
until i step</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
on a snail</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
letting out a fly i
let in a fly</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.mullamullapress.com/for-instance-by-matt-hetherington-mulla-mulla-press">http://www.mullamullapress.com/for-instance-by-matt-hetherington-mulla-mulla-press</a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>For Instance </i><span style="font-style: normal;">was
given a well-considered, thumbs-up review by Geoff Page, in tandem
with my verse novella, </span><i>Mr Clean & The Junkie. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">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. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/book-reviews-mr-clean--the-junkie-for-instance-20150811-gijhdo.html"><span style="font-style: normal;">http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/book-reviews-mr-clean--the-junkie-for-instance-20150811-gijhdo.html</span></a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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.'
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">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 </span><i>Mr Clean & The Junkie </i><span style="font-style: normal;">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. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://nznationalpoetryday.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/book-review-mr-clean-the-junkie-by-jennifer-compton/">https://nznationalpoetryday.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/book-review-mr-clean-the-junkie-by-jennifer-compton/</a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Original
publication</u></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Stylus Poetry
Journal</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Famous Reporter</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Notes From The Gean</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
POAM</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /><br />
</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-53093078827904975522015-12-28T14:36:00.001-08:002015-12-28T14:36:05.741-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'Dancing time and space' by Jenny Blackford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKM_Ahoel3CaPrXXD1wlmgYCc_hkdwuxLzPwc1aAhj7pYehfG1zWxQnYOCQ46Vgqmsvv9iMrgRpiN2SPnzP7HumskWoczX1F_E4EktISVetZS5mIdd_dlD9sgx_9dFhEVVMhiHSFGK9Q/s1600/1168627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKM_Ahoel3CaPrXXD1wlmgYCc_hkdwuxLzPwc1aAhj7pYehfG1zWxQnYOCQ46Vgqmsvv9iMrgRpiN2SPnzP7HumskWoczX1F_E4EktISVetZS5mIdd_dlD9sgx_9dFhEVVMhiHSFGK9Q/s320/1168627.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; page-break-before: always;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; page-break-before: always;">
Dancing time and space</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Men are not
forbidden here,
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
but seldom risk this
hall
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
packed full with
women of a certain age.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Mindful
attention to the knees.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Poor Emma Bovary was
just a needy child,
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
sad Anna K not
thirty
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
when they died so
painfully.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Eyes softly
focussed.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's safe to say
that most us
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
are twice their age
or more, well past
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
hope or fear of
tragic passion.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Mindful
attention to the hips.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We do our best to
undulate our stiffened bones
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
like yogic cats,
like swaying trees,
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
like steadfast
Sanskrit-speaking warriors.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Soft face,
easy breath.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We are an antique
navy of creaking ships</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
afloat on the
parquet floor</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
in boat pose, the
<i>navasana</i>.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Mindful
attention to the back.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We pull our navels
gently to our spines,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
breathe in, breathe
out,
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
breathe in.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
– <i>Slow breath,
steady mind.</i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We breathe.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
II</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Standing, we are
Shiva, dancing time
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
and space into
being, perhaps a little wobbly
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
over rusty ankles on
our rainbow mats.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Still, poised with
one knee just-bent,
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
braced, strong, the
other hip swung open</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
like the gate to a
new multiverse,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
its thigh and foot
high-tilted, balanced
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
by ballerina hands
held sideways-lifted
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
in a frozen moment
from creation's dance,</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
we touch the
electricity
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
of
space and time.
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was
well pleased to have the chance to catch up with Jenny Blackford here
in Melbourne when this tip top poem was highly commended in the
Melbourne Poets Union International Poetry Prize. Jenny
and her husband Russell live in Newcastle, with their well-beloved
cat, and they happened to have planned a trip to Melbourne, and then
Jenny heard her poem was short listed, and the dates co-incided.
Fate. Or something very like that. We had a calming drink at Young &
Jackson's and then headed on up to Collected Works for the shindig.
And how well Jenny read the poem when her turn came. I was very taken
with it. I am picking that it will be a foundation poem for Jenny's
next book. Her first book, <i>The Duties of a Cat </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Pitt
Street Poetry) is still available I think.</span>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">http://pittstreetpoetry.com/jenny-blackford/</span>
</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-86201849215618101642015-12-21T06:01:00.001-08:002015-12-21T06:01:58.293-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'A walk on the moor' by Harvey Molloy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vZAJtea1GD32I4tx8GQSh1XCz9_5hQFXOWsqTGQ0CgoESF2lBC_lMNMPxPActYpdsVouyV7CMCMAI3zh9v2_QgTLleGd_H1WFPcl6CuIE56bO266yhsH0vpoT1YHs05ArcVnbj7vSCY/s1600/6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vZAJtea1GD32I4tx8GQSh1XCz9_5hQFXOWsqTGQ0CgoESF2lBC_lMNMPxPActYpdsVouyV7CMCMAI3zh9v2_QgTLleGd_H1WFPcl6CuIE56bO266yhsH0vpoT1YHs05ArcVnbj7vSCY/s320/6.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A
walk on the moor</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The steep ascent</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">tugs my calf muscles</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">my camera eyes</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">survey the moorscape</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as I approach</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the soft arc of the ridge</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I pitch then yaw</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">arms extended</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to avoid a small pool</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in the bracken</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the wind bites against</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the thermal insulation</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of my Parka suit</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but telemetry tells ground control</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">we are still go</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& confirms a green light</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">somewhere beneath the peat</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the graves of the children</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Brady & Hindley murdered —</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">what were their names?</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& why did she name her dog <i>Puppet?</i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& what happened to Puppet</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">after she was sentenced to life?</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I moonwalk hop</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">bounce from left foot to right</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">pretending to be light</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to be free of the earth</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">my gloved hands collect</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">samples of heather</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">for detailed analysis later</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in the bedroom laboratory</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">should I make it home.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I am trying to be
sanguine and upbeat about the loss of the Tuesday Poem community –
kicked off about 5 years ago by Mary McCallum and Claire Beynon.
Things fall apart. But I am not ready to fall apart yet. I like
having point and purpose to my reading. So I shall carry on until the
wobble in my orbit becomes</span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;">too plangent. And it is
very fitting that my first pick for the new regime is Harvey Molloy,
who was a valued member of that community. I bumped into Harvey at
the poetry conference in Wellington, and we did the book swap thing,
the thing that poets do. So I got to read </span><i>Moonshot </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Steele
Roberts 2008) and I can see quite clearly why Mary McCallum has
selected him for next year's 3 poet Hoopla series at </span><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mākaro</span></b><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span>Press. The man has skillz. I particularly took to this poem,
because it summons up such an ominous sense of place, as it
celebrates the natural elevation of childhood. </span>
</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-88127067755261507252015-12-13T16:50:00.002-08:002015-12-15T12:08:44.879-08:00Tuesday Poem - Two Short Poems by Janis Freegard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCcz61__YeZq7W4KeaCOEy9kqmTCg5b_zclnU5j2xcCGP-vAVpkhPNs3o-LRm0nN-bTkkrPQmOu5DM_XqvFZApAoNcC0yqIpeJ4wsfuPZmGkWzAi8YKGtS3tryMYASEuQGhTodGySRII/s1600/1430782455450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCcz61__YeZq7W4KeaCOEy9kqmTCg5b_zclnU5j2xcCGP-vAVpkhPNs3o-LRm0nN-bTkkrPQmOu5DM_XqvFZApAoNcC0yqIpeJ4wsfuPZmGkWzAi8YKGtS3tryMYASEuQGhTodGySRII/s1600/1430782455450.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The sound of dropped silverware is, like, really loud.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I think I'll do that gamelan course</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">next semester. When there's no crowd,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the sound of dropped silverware is, like, really loud.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I've uploaded all my tunes to the cloud.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Did I tell you my parents are getting divorced?</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The sound of dropped silverware is, like, really loud.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I think I'll do that gamelan course.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>La
F</b></span></span><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>ée</b></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Verte</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
drank all the absinthe</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">my
mind is now a milky jade</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
must inform you that I've driven</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
the outskirts of Paris</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
discuss </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">An
Ideal Husband</span></i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with
Estonian lapdancers</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">later
I intend to watch Catherine Millet</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">taking
in the pleasure of the crowd</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I've
gone where you'll never find me:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">beyond
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">louche</span></i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Well,
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Glass Rooster </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Auckland
University Press) is quite a book, and Janis Freegard is quite a
poet. What a pleasure to pay attention to this book and this poet.
Janis and I met up again at the NZ Poetry Conference recently and did
a book swap as we said our goodbyes. So often this is how one comes
upon the best books. The best books are revenue neutral LOL.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Re
the poems, the first quirky deliciousness is the banner poem for the
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cityscape
</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">section.
And for those of you who don't know, La F</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ée</span></span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Verte, the title of the second, means the green fairy, and is the old
time nickname for absinthe. And louche is a French word mean
cross-eyed or squinting. There is a ceremony involved with watering
down your absinthe, called La Louche. Apparently it involves a lot
more than, as I thought, watching the colour cloud.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.absinthefever.com/absinthe/ritual
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
louche is a word I often use to describe people I know and like. It
means - disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way. It does
seem as if I know a lot of louche people. But me, I don't like
absinthe much. I do like the mystique it has gathered around it.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Oh,
and yes, I had to google Catherine Millet – not that it mattered in
my apprehension of the poem. And yes, I had heard of her. Quite a
louche person, IMHO.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2015/the-glass-rooster.html</span></span></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-39022453899875046032015-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:002015-12-07T17:39:20.899-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'Ada - Dies Natalis' by Geoffrey Lehmann<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmVHkMe-ma8t2f1Z9MZuh30Mk-yew_UCzKdLlHKkyksrUr7v6RmD9c5wzXwjHbjQy5JXSjnRxZj2qaet_OrESO06QEo_VmMXoOfoNO2gLjdkY0idrDkvSa3BQ2DYNA-Joe24NaNo6tqA/s1600/geoffrey_grande.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmVHkMe-ma8t2f1Z9MZuh30Mk-yew_UCzKdLlHKkyksrUr7v6RmD9c5wzXwjHbjQy5JXSjnRxZj2qaet_OrESO06QEo_VmMXoOfoNO2gLjdkY0idrDkvSa3BQ2DYNA-Joe24NaNo6tqA/s320/geoffrey_grande.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Ada
– Dies Natalis</b></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
rare as rockinghorse shit” -</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">one in 15,000 the internet says.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Standing in the corridor</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of the children's cardiac unit</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I'm surrounded by coloured diagrams,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the blue veins and red arteries</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of wrong connections.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Each map is wild and unique</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as a snowflake,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but they're all actuarial possibilities,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and each is a life.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ada's is the supracardiac version.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The veins from her lungs join</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in a single vein that seeks</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and almost touches her left ventricle,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and loses its way and veers</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in an improbable backwards loop</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to her right ventricle.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ada is simple to fix</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">if five hours under surgical lights are simple.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">II</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Isn't she beautiful! Isn't she beautiful!”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the young aunt, ardent, repeats.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Feeding from aureoles like brown dinner plates,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ada (pronounced 'Ardour”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">after Nabokov's heroine)</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">breathes heavily, gulps air,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">turns blue as she starts to cry.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">III</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Tomorrow the veins from her lungs</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">will be cut</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and joined to her left ventricle.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The grandmothers wash and scrub the house,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a grandfather (that's me) standing on a stool,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">instructed by the grandmothers,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">ties a clothesline to an iron spike</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">set in nineteenth century brickwork.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Eight days from now Ada</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">will be carried through a narrow dim house.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Her eyes will open like dark butterflies</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and lungs inhale</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">this nectarine tree, ripening muscatels</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and staked tomatoes in the summer heat.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">IV</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">On any day 300,000 are born</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of dust from exploded supernovae.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">There was no witness when a point</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">became the universe</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and the first stars started to burn,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">billions of galaxies lighting up.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The 300,000 all have witnesses,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the nurse who spotted Ada's laboured breathing -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">There's something wrong with that baby.”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">V</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Hibiscus” - one of her first words.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It's night and the passerby</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">can look over a gate past pink and red roses through a
clear glass door</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and see a shadowy figure in a hallway</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">gyrating and shaking a maraca and tambourine</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to inaudible music,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">who's wondering if neighbours think he's mad,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but he has a daughter to entertain -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">she's hidden in a cot -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ada, two years and a bit.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">VI</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In the dark of early morning</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I hear a muffled voice talking to a child,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and a solitary cry.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The child's translation:</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Daddy's wings have gone and he's lost his fairy
dust.”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">VII</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Her father has been dead for three weeks.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She's restless in the restaurant.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Hoisting her on my hip</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">we go out in the street -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as my veal parmigiana arrives.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I identify flowers in gardens lit by street lamps.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">'That's a strelitzia,” I say,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">a relative of the banana.”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We head towards an illuminated shop front,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">with cut flowers in buckets on the footpath</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and shadows standing in doorways.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">I saw Daddy,” she says.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">At the house where's she's staying, she chooses</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sonia and the Flying Babies.</i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Read it again.”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I do, but Sonia has a father.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In a private voice, as I'm leaving, she says:</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">I want you to stay.”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">VIII</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A month later, at two years and nine months</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">she's still finding questions and answers:</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">How did your Daddy die?”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">He was quite old and had a heart attack,” I reply.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">He was in a room by himself</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and ran out into the street and died.”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">IX</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ada has become herself,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the miniature parts,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">all in working order, are complete.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Aged three she mounts a platform</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to wash her hands,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">looks down and sighs -</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the cares of adulthood.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The rectangular box-basin</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of sparkling white porcelain</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">(an aesthetic manifesto of her architect-mother)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">has a reddish-brown smear of water,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">tannin-stained rivulets.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">She flicks on a tap</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and her small plump hand</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">decisively sluices out the discoloured water,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">face averted, absorbed in her task.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thanks
to Geoff for allowing me to post this tender, luminous poem. And
thanks also for the wonderful book which I have just now put on the
pile to be shelved. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Poems
1957 – 2013 </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">contains
the long sweep of a writing life. This is what he has written and
wants to save. It was quite a journey. Of particular interest to me
on this first reading, was </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Spring
Forest, </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">which
I had not read in its entirety before. I'll be posting a couple of
poems from that section in the new year. And as a bonus, apart from
bravura and adept poetics displayed within, </span></span></span><i>Poems
1957 – 2013 </i><span style="font-style: normal;">must be one of the
handsomest books I have ever had in my hands. The cover drawing by
Charles Blackman of the young Lehmann is almost edible. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Meanwhile
this year, (better late than never) this high-water mark of a book is
up for one of the big prizes, The Prime Minister's Literary Awards,
to be announced in Sydney on 14</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">
December.</span></div>
<h2 class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%;">
</h2>
<h2 class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%;">
Poetry</h2>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Devadatta's Poems</i> by
Judith Beveridge (Giramondo Publishing)
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Earth Hour</i> by David
Malouf (University of Queensland Press)
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Exhibits of the Sun</i> by
Stephen Edgar (Black Pepper Publishing)
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Poems 1957–2013</i> by
Geoffrey Lehmann (UWA Publishing)
</div>
</li>
<li><i>Towards the Equator: New & Selected Poems</i> by
Alex Skovron (Puncher & Wattmann)
<br />
</li>
</ul>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/poems-1957-2013</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-8477620413275342012015-12-02T06:37:00.000-08:002015-12-02T06:37:08.922-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'On Looking: In The Lost And Found' by Michael Harlow <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>ON LOOKING: IN THE LOST AND FOUND</b></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
On this mouse-coloured street where</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
everyone is trying to look like each</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
other, they are looking to undress
the</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
world with such a fine cosmological</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
eye, you might think they are trying</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
to see into the heart of a star
itself.</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
Whole families out in their glads
snapping</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
pictures of each other’s mums and
dads,</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
and you and me. They have such a
gaze</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
for all of it. That seeking dream:
looking</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
for a black cat in a dark room. But
if you’ve</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
come this far and end up in the lost
and</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
found, you know that old story,
where no</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
one becomes someone one day; you
pray</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
for one thing and you get another.
You know</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
that looking for a black cat in a
dark room</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
where there is none – you find one
anyway.</div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
I bumped into Michael Harlow at the
poetry conference and Litcrawl recently in Wellington. I first bumped into him
in Christchurch in 1980! He is in fine fettle – just scored the Kathleen
Grattan and the Lauris Edmond! So good to chew the fat again, and when I got
home to Australia I returned to his book, <i>The Tram Conductor's Blue Cap.</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> After my first reading of it I had asked
Michael if I might post a poem – but Michael is sometimes not so great at
answering emails. I thought maybe he had changed his email address. People
often do. But no, it was just one of those things. So, as I say, when I got
back to Oz I pulled the book off the shelf and gave it another read. Because I
had forgotten which poem I had asked for the first time, and supposed, as I
read, my first pick would jump out at me. But do you know, it didn’t. The book
had shifted on me. It was quite a perilous and slippery feeling, to think you
have read something, and, as you read it again, to find out you have not. I was
quite at a loss. </span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I don’t know where this poem is set, but it irresistibly reminds me of
Lecce in Puglia, of going out in the evening into the full flood of the
passegiata. </span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I very much like the astute line endings, the precision of the
punctuation, the vernacular ‘glads’ (for glad rags, and also of course for so
much else).</span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">And I also like the winding helix of a line – ‘where no / one becomes
someone one day;’. </span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I think the whole poem swings on that line. It is really using the
curse/blessing blessing/curse of the archetypical fairy tale. </span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">And I just adore the way the poem opens with a mouse-coloured street (a
rough translation of a vernacular term I opined to myself) and looms up to the
big finish with the black cat. (I had to go back and rejig my initial
apprehension.) So what exactly was going on? Never mind, I loved it.</span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2009/The-Tram-Conductors-Blue-Cap.html
</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-86837866890327861482015-11-02T08:15:00.001-08:002015-11-02T08:17:54.110-08:00Tuesday Poem - 'New undergraduates tour the psychology clinic' by Melinda Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNm4oFwV1ki_1EmqUJT2tegpACb1v-TzP_uLPS6lY_vi83WF-6CnkvToTPGtd0Duq_SOdOR9tuAwixBbhqkhOyPZyj2m6mQOUPULEEhnGA7e7C-JhAbTfbTz5fnGAZUXIZ4A348wo1Lc0/s1600/131112-ddu-cover-square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNm4oFwV1ki_1EmqUJT2tegpACb1v-TzP_uLPS6lY_vi83WF-6CnkvToTPGtd0Duq_SOdOR9tuAwixBbhqkhOyPZyj2m6mQOUPULEEhnGA7e7C-JhAbTfbTz5fnGAZUXIZ4A348wo1Lc0/s320/131112-ddu-cover-square.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>New
undergraduates tour</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>the
psychology clinic</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room where the troubled come to be
untroubled </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the opening of mouths in pain</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for picking lightly at the scab on the
deep wound</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of dignified gibbering</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of the short fuse</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the vomiting of memory;</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">for the smearing of consequences, the flinging of blame</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room which was once in darkness, with a
velvet curtain</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and a wooden grille</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of stripping</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of disembowelling</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of the scooping out and spreading of glistening innards</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of fear of silence</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of too much truth, and not enough</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of fear, of silence</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of the rushing and botching of
reconstructive</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">surgery</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the impersonation of friendship</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and the purchase of listening</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of the drinking of too much water</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and of jiggling in the low chair and of the dogged
crossing of legs</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the rewriting of diaries</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of the long clenching</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room of rocking without sound</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the binding of deep wounds with
gauze </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">bandages</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room for the closing of mouths in pain</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is the room where the unhealable come to be
unhealed</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I was well contented to have the chance to be at Melinda
Smith's La Mama gig in Melbourne recently, and because of Ken
Smeaton's excellent filming of poets' project, it exists out on
youtube if you care to partake.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtYzXrwmRqc&feature=share</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Melinda's book <i>Drag Down To Unlock Or Place An
Emergency Call </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(Pitt Street
Poetry) is one of those books that you really want to read, and then
read again. A true cut and come again book. And the judges of the
Prime Minister's Award agree with me because it won last year's
prize. (And it is a prize that is worth winning.) Melinda is a poet
to watch, and I am already on the qui vive for the next book. What a
wonderful poet she is, and a tip top reader, and a hell of a good
person to kick around town with.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">http://pittstreetpoetry.com/melinda-smith/</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-45486016024892318842015-10-25T22:34:00.000-07:002015-10-27T15:11:07.869-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Front Verandah' by Sophie Tarrant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEJBhO7Bsh6oDFvY6oFRWyVccXH8f3ixJ1oIh_PFgkchNV3L9JSCQ22plccR3j8zQieWmDjLsGj2jkP1ecJ82R0T_-moQZpQpH7f-onHTs28-OAZYYXui7qxq5SmKV9bPu45eEcxIoVs/s1600/12002215_890233724403977_4518524021076308541_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEJBhO7Bsh6oDFvY6oFRWyVccXH8f3ixJ1oIh_PFgkchNV3L9JSCQ22plccR3j8zQieWmDjLsGj2jkP1ecJ82R0T_-moQZpQpH7f-onHTs28-OAZYYXui7qxq5SmKV9bPu45eEcxIoVs/s320/12002215_890233724403977_4518524021076308541_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>FRONT
VERANDAH</b></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He starts the day by lighting incense in the neck</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of her vase. She breathes in a gust of wind until the
scent fills her. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">His hands, which she has seen break tree branches as
thick as his arm,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">tappity-patter the bongo drums. The rhythm pulses
through her chest</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of drawers. She sings along</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">with wooden wind chime voice, out of time but melodic.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He eats lunch at the table, his leg touching hers. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He pays no attention to the view through her windows</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">even when she swings and whines with rusty hinges.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He reads a magazine with ads for shampoo, models with
dyed</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">blonde hair. Part of her palm tree comes through the
window,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a few fingers brush the open page.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The fringe of her frond is yellow from sunlight.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He leaves her, walks away down the street</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">comes back with a sprig of frangipani, pink as a blush.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He tucks the stem into her thick fronds</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">layered across the windowsill. She feels warm inside,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">shades him with her maroon veil.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He lies down to rest on her white cushioned forehead.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When the kookaburras laugh on the power line outside,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">her
ferns rustle, </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">shhhhhh,
</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
the birds fly away.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">His snores vibrate through her chest</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">as vibrantly as bongo beats.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I met Sophie Tarrant up in Brisbane at the Riverbend
reading (she runs a reading called Below Deck which I must get to
next time I am up that way.) And then she was in Melbourne just as I
was putting on a Big Read at Collected Works for NZ Poetry Day, so I
invited her along and after dithering over Janet Frame and Chris
Price she chose to read Glen Colquhoun, and was a total asset.<span style="font-weight: normal;"> Later
that night she gave me her chapbook </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Memories
of Home </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
I liked it a lot and chose the verandah poem because of its evocation
of Brisbane (such a spirit of place!) and the charm of the</span></span> personification of the verandah.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Hear her read her poem.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.sophietarrant.com/poems/2015/3/30/front-verandah-poem-by-sophie-tarrant">http://www.sophietarrant.com/poems/2015/3/30/front-verandah-poem-by-sophie-tarrant</a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.sophietarrant.com/">http://www.sophietarrant.com/</a></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u>https://www.facebook.com/belowdeckpoetry </u></span></span><br />
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><br /></u></span></span>
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><br /></u></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u> </u></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-60122586145594094182015-10-12T22:35:00.001-07:002015-10-13T06:26:22.280-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Frankston Train' by Garth Madsen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzRCPJ7bjhGwacZ-biKayo_484b2SLBvLq2FLecdgVuumO1hY4M8XpTnVHN-OMSfF_yGKOTRc6UHjT8Vl0VquwG7u53IRKEkaHpUp0GSTdboJXoCZ-65hTudlaU-4iOD-RekPCk-OAEk/s1600/2015-09-27-16-25-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzRCPJ7bjhGwacZ-biKayo_484b2SLBvLq2FLecdgVuumO1hY4M8XpTnVHN-OMSfF_yGKOTRc6UHjT8Vl0VquwG7u53IRKEkaHpUp0GSTdboJXoCZ-65hTudlaU-4iOD-RekPCk-OAEk/s320/2015-09-27-16-25-18.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Frankston
Train</b></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Armpit
to armpit, everyone sweats in a different</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">language
here. A woman's voice calls out the</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">name
of each station as we arrive, another</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">scratching
in the race of life, she says Mordialloc</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
if there can be less dialloc. Four urban</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">minimalists
play euchre, I cannot see if their</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">cards
are real or not. The echo girl sits under the</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'no
feet on seats' sign, her foot on the seat, the</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">angle
showing the curve of her in-step better than</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">high
heels, she tells her mobile phone that she</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was
named after a car number plate. The</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">powdered
aeroplane blonde with an imitation</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">pearl
necklace becomes a delta, people pushing</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">past
her on either side. A drunk shouts, “Of</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">course,
I'm smart. I went to school, didn't I?'</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
father, a mother scold their son as if they are</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">trying
to make him smile for the camera. The</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">lowrider
with an earring drops a water bottle at a</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ninja
bitch's feet, there is an empty McDonalds</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">wrapper
under her seat and a browning apple</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">core.
The rainmaker with crickets in his ears</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">drums
the seat between his legs. The bonsai</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">brunette
sheds her black cardigan and flicks her</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">anklet
at the far border of my vision and I ask</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">myself
where her story ends and mine begins.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">One
of my favourite Melbourne poets is Garth Madsen, and he lives out on
my train line – the Frankston line. He is very tender and astute
about the place where we both live. His 'Frankston For Beginners' is
a must-read, as far as I am concerned. I have no idea how you might
acquire a copy though. He had a big launch for the book, out at
Seaford, (with enough food, including a chocolate fountain, for an
invading army whose quartermaster had gone awol so the troops are
pretty hungry, about as hungry as hungry troops can get) and then
there was a reading at Red Wheelbarrow in Brunswick, and then as far
as I know that was the end of it. Anyhow anyhow, when Avril Bradley
decided to do an anthology of poems about Frankston, Garth was a
must. Those who know Garth truly appreciate him. We had a lovely
launch for the anthology in the remoter reaches of the McClelland
Sculpture Park in Langwarrin - well done Avril for pulling it all
together – and this poem was a stand out for me. And a shout out to
Michelle Leber whose stunning photo is on the cover of 'City Of
Stars”.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">PS
Garth often blocks his poems so they are as neat as bricks an expert
bricklayer has laid – but no matter how I fiddle I can't make my
blog block – so please forgive my my hod, my grout, my towel.</span></span></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-74398521694575301622015-09-29T06:07:00.001-07:002015-09-29T06:08:39.106-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Waiting' by Tracy Ryan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyC7Wvw9QeseVzWqiJxkvbSNwsZRflg0Xn7XKbjyGoz5UtzA4OztVW4jeYoHW74isnxj69aLhKVb3Z-JYkBqPeml38RbukB-N8Qlkj9cnv9L0rgyPxWGI4U5HnFbldk-XpLnMO4j78Bw/s1600/hoard-hi-res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyC7Wvw9QeseVzWqiJxkvbSNwsZRflg0Xn7XKbjyGoz5UtzA4OztVW4jeYoHW74isnxj69aLhKVb3Z-JYkBqPeml38RbukB-N8Qlkj9cnv9L0rgyPxWGI4U5HnFbldk-XpLnMO4j78Bw/s320/hoard-hi-res.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Waiting</b></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Waiting for bog</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to blossom</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">with white flame</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of bog cotton</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is groom not given</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to see the dress</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">before the day</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Knowing her only</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">one long cold season</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is love meeting</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">weekdays only</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">or sensing no more than</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the moon's dark side</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">thus the moon's</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">wrong meaning</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Yet bog in continual winter</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is most bog wearing nothing</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">but more and more water</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">her deep nature</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">reiterated</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">bog is what bog does</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
yet another launch at Collected Works of a wonderful book! This time
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hoard</span></i> by Tracy Ryan, joint winner of the Whitmore Press Prize.
It's a deep, unfathomable book, and a shifty, slippery book. With who
knows what within. So like a bog, so like a hoard within a bog.
(Tracy's pronunciation of the local way of saying 'hoard' is still
resonating with me.) And how much I appreciated the quiet, stringent
perfection of the laying down of the words on the page. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Marion May Campbell's trenchant launch speech is
published here in Cordite -</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://cordite.org.au/guncotton/campbell-ryan/"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://cordite.org.au/guncotton/campbell-ryan/</span></span></a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">- and it pretty well covers anything else I might be
moved to say about this book.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://whitmorepress.com/new-releases/</div>
<br />Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-23622851414883577292015-09-22T13:00:00.000-07:002015-09-22T13:01:24.933-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Night Watch' by Robyn Rowland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlge8gmw1WBocpaVuADQ4XUC6D-riOpg8v76gbwhx9tRRH3KnVAOJZ4Nldg0wqYCde6JE-cc4BTqchCWaRc-4Vx07B30h3v4_rg2fPzqLMuKQU25JyVhoBU26XABa_r3ZhGXv19jFRLE/s1600/stacks_image_2149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlge8gmw1WBocpaVuADQ4XUC6D-riOpg8v76gbwhx9tRRH3KnVAOJZ4Nldg0wqYCde6JE-cc4BTqchCWaRc-4Vx07B30h3v4_rg2fPzqLMuKQU25JyVhoBU26XABa_r3ZhGXv19jFRLE/s1600/stacks_image_2149.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Night
Watch</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Time is elastic, its zenith fit to breaking</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when you wait for the ambulance – now leaning over
him,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">now rushing back and forth from house to street
straining</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">for sirens, night so dark and wet and quiet out there.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Listening for breath in a slight boy of fifteen years</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">is an ancient art requiring silence. Kneeling on your
hall floor,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">ear right to his lips, beside the frenzied shouts of his
father,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">whose panic of pacing is the only thing he can offer
him.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Your own son watches his friend from the corner,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">slumped, slightly beaten, the first fire of alcohol
seeming</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">less necessary than it might have been, not worth the
effort now,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">while the friend he tried to carry home lies on his
side, still.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Slapping his rump to try and wake him feels like
assault.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Strange to be able to do things he would never allow,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">ice you run across his cheeks a cruelty. Beyond limp,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">he will not jerk away, open his mud-brown eyes.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When they finally come, wearied knights of the new wars,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">they cannot rouse him, tell us it's not good, open his
lids to pupils</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">so huge, so pitch and utterly void, his mother gasps,
sinking,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and you never saw anyone so unconscious who wasn't dead.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">You make your son sit and watch. They strap on an oxygen
mask,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">fail to open his mouth for a tongue block, quietly ask
what he took -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">vodka yes, but weed? pills? needles? No. Just vodka.
Straight.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He
was kicked,' your boy says, 'they punched me in the head.' And
vomits.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Clipped on a stretcher, they lift him out of the hall.
In the long night,</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">fourteen hours twisted in tubes before he rouses, you
remember</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">they loved pizza by the swimming pool for the last three
birthdays, watched</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">videos, Xbox, played Star Wars with Darth Vader the only
enemy -</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">and when you turned sixteen no-one had parties at all.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Robyn
lives in Ireland and Australia so she launched her new book </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lines
of Drift </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Doire
Press) both there and here. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I caught the Aussie launch by Catherine Bateson at Collected Works
here in Melbourne and invested in a book. I must say I liked the epic
poem </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Unbroken
Stone In A Stubborn</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sea </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">–
but just too long for a blog I reckon. Again the scroll scroll scroll
problem. But this mini-drama called </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Night
Watch </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">caught
my attention. Such a shriek of a poem. Recollected in tranquility,
as they say. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
http://www.doirepress.com/writers/k-z/robyn_rowland/</div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8325599481443040608.post-10674197889079679712015-09-06T18:16:00.000-07:002015-09-06T19:54:51.518-07:00Tuesday Poem - 'Wondernight' by Alex Skovron <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiba1Q1N4iWxs-3FNmfvWlyFF07L_5Ml3ckQ4rtRiLi2NVmsX1-JLIwiXF_PUxY6vASK9fJ1emWE4TEm6PtZanfyd73ruwoZA-QnNP_Y3QykiNppX4IUeRxu9osM90RAJuxI_DE4LQMNOA/s1600/Towards_the_equator_310_476_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiba1Q1N4iWxs-3FNmfvWlyFF07L_5Ml3ckQ4rtRiLi2NVmsX1-JLIwiXF_PUxY6vASK9fJ1emWE4TEm6PtZanfyd73ruwoZA-QnNP_Y3QykiNppX4IUeRxu9osM90RAJuxI_DE4LQMNOA/s320/Towards_the_equator_310_476_s.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Wondernight</b></span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>for Zofia Radwańska</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I was a child</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">when a picture book</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">brought me this/</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a study</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">dark among its panels</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the household</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">asleep/ a pendulum</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">somewhere</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">softly clicks/ midnight</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Suddenly</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">bookshelves stir/ the books</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">are coming to life</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">they wake/ start</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to converse/ glide or file</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to the floor</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">begin a vigorous </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">debate/ each volume utterly</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">unlike the next</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It is a wondernight</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of books</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the room vibrates/ colours</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& covers throb</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">pages windmill/ a dance</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">of books</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that should have stayed</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the shelf</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">where day belongs</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Try to recatch</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the colour of that tale</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I fell for/</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">find</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I can almost</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">close my memory</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">around it</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">almost/ stubborn is the</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">old steep</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">impossibility</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to be a little boy</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">again</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Dwindling</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the night gives notice</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to return/</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the books</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">must reinstate a front</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">for the sun</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">a facade/ for morning</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to discover</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">perfect order/ shelves</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">repossessed</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">the spines & sequences</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">restored</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">4</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And I wish</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">that I could hold this</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Polish fable once</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">more in my hand/ protectively/</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">lest by the colour</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">it no longer</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">lent/ the flaws</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">in the text</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& the art</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I picked at/</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">these books should finally</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">close their dream</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">& I/ unreconciled/ resume</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">my book</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;">to book search for myself</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
missed out on Alex Skovron's launch of </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Towards
The Equator; New & Selected Poems </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Puncher
& Wattman 2014) but I did catch him reading at The Dan recently,
and that was a treat. He brings such force and colour to the work
when he reads. (As if it doesn't contain enough already!) The poem I
chose comes from his 1988 book </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Rearrangement, </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
the title poem is a stunner. But too long, I thought, for a blog
post. Scroll and scroll and scroll. I can only suggest you invest in
a copy and have a good browse through the greatest hits of one of our
best poets. Alex really knows how to poet! (I also enjoyed very much,
on my first time through this book, the selections from his 1999 book
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Infinite
City. </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Oh
and </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Man and the Map 2003.</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennifer Comptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13254781317505540179noreply@blogger.com1