Tomorrow, I will be will be trekking around the gorgeous Boondall Wetlands with ten other haiku enthusiasts on our autumn ginko.
If the weather stays like it is today – early 20′s and endless blue – it is going to be beautiful to be near the water in a haiku state of mind. Here’s one that I have been rolling around in my head this morning…
*
autumn light
promise we’ll see
each other again
Responses to Link #2, the wakiku:
What an exciting beginning! Let me extend a hand of thanks to the seven poets who took the leap and offered their words for the wakiku. It is in the offering that we build community and I look forward to being a part of this dynamic community as the poem builds. Thank you also to the readers… without you, our voice remains unheard / unread. You are a vital part of this shisan and I hope you stay with us as the poem grows.
Now, to the offerings.
There is such a diversity of images on offer, which makes the job of making a selection all the richer. From the lyrical shimmer of Mal’s ‘golden sentinels’ and John’s ‘scythe’ to the sharp brevity of Chloe’s ‘goosebumps’, the words on offer add their own dimension to the colour and ache that is at the heart of Matt’s hokku.
Lyndon (El Norto) adds a sense of time (and slaving) and places the pain inducing rake squarely in hand; Ashley adds a mystery to the falling leaf, with her fine first line ‘the message in code’ which links beautifully back to the leaf and on to the movement of the bird; Trish introduces a drunk uncle and their shadows; and Andy adds an ache to the eyes as breath leaves the chest.
Such riches to leap into… Where did I land?
For its tightness of link, I have chosen Lyndon’s ‘the sky darkens’ with one minor edit – the addition of ‘as’ at the beginning of the second line to strengthen the run on effect of the lines. This now means the call is open for link #3, the daisan.
This is where the playfulness begins, as the daisan is seen as the first big leap and functions as a break away poem in the shisan. What we are looking for is a verse that takes us in a new direction, without fracturing the spell of the poem. So dream big and leap boldly.
Happy Friday to you all,
*****
My Aching Back: Shisan
Started: 15 May 2013 – Finished:
Written between: Matt Hetherington, Lyndon Norton
Side 1 – jo – preface
Link #1 (3 lines) – hokku (autumn)
my aching back
a leaf falls
from a branch
(Matt Hetherington)
Link #2 (2 lines) – wakiku (autumn)
the sky darkens
as I put down the rake
Link #3 (3 lines) – daisan (non seasonal)
Side 2 – ha part one – development
Link #4 (2 lines) – winter moon
Link #5 (3 lines) – non seasonal
Link #6 (2 lines) – non seasonal
Side 3 – ha part two – intensification
Link #7 (3 lines) – spring blossom
Link #8 (2 lines) – spring
Link #9 (3 lines) – non seasonal
Side 4 – kyu – finale
Link #10 (2 lines)- non seasonal, love verse
Link #11 (3 lines) – non seasonal, love verse
Link #12 (2 lines) – ageku (summer)
*****
After the inventiveness and energy of the New Junicho – Between Thistles, I have decided to experiment with another form, the shisan, and open it up to anyone who wants to participate.
Here is a link to some reading on the shisan and a fine example composed by Barbara A Taylor and Vasile Moldovan.
To begin the poem (and give it its name), I have invited the soon-to-be Brisbane based Matt Hetherington to write the hokku (opening verse) and from there on in, the poem is wide open to contributions from anyone, anywhere. All you have to do is write a comment on the post with your suggested link. To make things easy to follow, I ask that everyone begins each comment with the number of the link they are writing, for example, link #2.
I will leave each link open for submission for roughly 36 hours before making a selection and adding it to the poem. Once a link has been added, you can then begin posting suggestions for the next link.
*****
So with Matt’s poem burning in the hokku position, the call is now open for link #2, the wakiku. The role of the wakiku, otherwise known as the flanking verse, is to closely support and amplify the hokku. It may examine the wider backdrop against which the action of the hokku is set, or focus in on a particular detail so as to provide further depth and tangibility.
I am already looking forward to reading your suggestions, so now… it’s over to you.
Leap boldly!
Filed under poetry
zen garden
a wasp flies out
of Buddha’s nose
Filed under poetry
Since seeing Springsteen in April, I have been completely under his spell… listening to every album in chronological order, including the box set Tracks and a handful of incredible bootlegs including Bruce and The E-Street Band Live at the Main Point in 1975 and at Winterland in 1979. Both contain there fair share of miracles… moments that make your skin tighten and your nervous system ignite. The version of E-Street Shuffle from 1975 is one of those moments; you can hear in every note that the band is playing for their lives and that Springsteen has everything to prove, everything to live and die for.
I have also been reading Clinton Heylin’s compelling, E-Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band. It is a superbly researched book that takes the reader deep into, the at times infuriatingly perfectionist world of Springsteen, from his early days with The Castilles up to the recording of Tunnel of Love and the end of the first E-Street era. And for the real buffs, it provides detailed notes on the 300 songs Springsteen penned during this time. It really is the work of a true aficionado.
One of the few issues I took with the book was Heylin’s final note; that the moments of miracle are fewer these days. Anyone who experienced the recent ‘Wrecking’ shows would attest to the fact that night after night, Springsteen continues to perform miracles. Maybe it is because audiences go expecting nothing less, and that these days Bruce and band are performing in much larger arenas that some of the subtle magic is lost. I can’t say for sure… but what I do know, is it wasn’t lost on me.
Here’s three moments of miracle from three different E-Street eras. Get your fill.
Now I am off to start reading Peter Ames Carlin’s ‘Bruce’.
Filed under discussions, who listens to the radio?
A small fleet of cleansing trucks (formerly known as garbage trucks) will take poetry into some very unexpected places in the lead up to the Sydney Writers Festival which runs from May 20 – 26.
Eleven trucks are currently doing the rounds of Sydney’s streets adorned with poetry. This initiative takes the phrase ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ to new heights; transporting the words of 19 poets into the public arena, where it is hoped that many people will connect with the unique and arresting language of poetry.
The 19 poems featured are a wonderful mix of old and new; selected by festival guest, award-winning poet and novelist, Luke Davies.
Here’s a list of the poems doing the rounds and a promo video for the project:
• Rainer Maria Rilke (from “Archaic Torso of Apollo”) (tr: Stephen Mitchell)
• Gig Ryan (from “When I Consider”)
• Peter Porter (from “The Unicorn in Love”)
• Jessy Randall (“Why I had Children”)
• Martin Harrison (from “Walking Back from the Dam”)
• David Campbell (“Mothers and Daughters”)
• John Berryman (from “Eleven Addresses to the Lord”)
• W. B. Yeats (from “Vacillation”)
• Kevin Hart (from “Dark Bird”)
• Judith Wright (from “Sonnet”)
• Kay Ryan (“Fool’s Errands”)
• John Berryman (from “Op. posth. no. 13”)
• Laurie Duggan (from “Letter to John Forbes”)
• joanne burns (“revisionism”)
• John Berryman (from “Overseas Prayer”)
• Marilyn Hacker (“Villanelle for D.G.B.”)
• L. K. Holt (from “From Inside the MRI Scanner”)
• Judith Wright (from “Woman to Child”)
• S. K. Kelen (from “Reality Check”)
Let’s hope this idea is taken on nation wide… the clatter of the cleansing truck can use a little poetry to make it more palatable.
Filed under events & opportunities, poetry & publishing
On Friday night I received news that two of my haiku will be published in the new World Haiku Anthology: A Vast Sky. This follows acceptances in nothing in the window (Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku 2012) and Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years, making the past 6-months very successful.
Now, the only way to celebrate is with a new haiku (part vii in the Toddle series)…
*
my son’s voice
breaking the spine
of his book
Filed under poetry, poetry & publishing
the afternoon like a fragment
pollen colours the air
in every nose
you grab at mum’s skirt
bare your teeth and beg
for milk
the wind is sweet and rank
always is
the sky a hoarse throat reciting
there is silence after
the hunger in both
your bodies fold
Filed under poetry
You wake in the hour
before dawn, singing a route
through to our autumn room
where we swim
in a humid lake of sleep
each note, more famished
than the last, quickens
my pulse as I kick
from sleep’s shore to reach
you in the tidal dark.
Filed under poetry, Uncategorized
The poetry calendar is beginning to burst as we enter the second half of the year and one of the events I am really excited about is Seasonings. This event brings together the best of food and poetry… two of my absolute passions in life.
Queensland Poetry Festival has teamed up with one of Brisbane’s food innovators, Mondo Organics to curate an evening of fine dining and intimate poetry readings by Eleanor Jackson, Tiggy Johnson and this Lost Shark on Thursday June 20. Tickets for this event are priced at $110 and include a 3-course meal, wine and drinks, a special gift for every guest and of course an evening of words.
Seating is limited for this special, one-off evening, so don’t hesitate… it’s the perfect opportunity to treat yourself and a friend/loved one/lover, or if you are in the mood for a larger celebration, a table of 10 can be booked for the discounted price of $990.
So if you are a lover of food and poetry, this one is for you. Tickets are now available from the QPF bookstore.
Date: Thursday 20th June
Time: 6:45pm for a 7pm start
Where: Mondo Organics, 166 Hardgrave Rd, West End
I am personally looking forward to the challenge of composing some new work for the night that in some way interacts with the menu… am salivating already.
Filed under events & opportunities
He toddles slowly up the back path
eyeing off the shade of the mulberry tree
where leaves have been raked
into boy-sized mounds:
ageless and dreaming he throws
himself into the litter
whoops and kicks his legs
lusty and loud as any turkey.
Filed under poetry
