River (part vii)

[three fragments]

*

yesterday in a different voice
discussing emptiness
you flooded with sunlight

*

with the water flowing
out of your body
you understand you lost direction

*

you lift your head
and the sky rushes in to your mouth

First Bite: An Autumn Triparshva (Side 3)

As side 3 plays, First Bite spins to a close. Massive thanks to Julie, Cindy and Ashley for taking the leap with me… am already excited about the shape our next project may take.

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

last piece of the puzzle
her body nestled
against mine

CK

*

bare foot in the kitchen
her teeth chatter la cucaracha

JB

*

the record spins
gathering blues
at dawn

GN

*

warmth kicks in
the womb

AM

*

first buds
appear under
her t-shirt

CK

*

lips on the wine glass
blooming red

JB

River (part vi)

[two fragments]

*

in your rejection of flight
you pinned the sky’s
legs to the bed

*

salt settles into the wound:
a quiet moment before
the sharks begin
to circle

SpeedPoets fills your Easter with words

SpeedPoets is gearing up to bring the words to The Hideaway this Easter Saturday from 1:30pm, and we have a sexy new poster to help spread the word!

As part of the March gig, we are launching two brilliant new collections, haematograms by Nigel Ellis (aka Bruce Dorlova) and Confessional Box by Vanessa Page. Here’s what I had to say about each book:

“Confessional Box maps the undulating landscapes of home, love and letting go. Page’s poems are sensuous, compassionate and filled with quiet wisdom; they are a celebration of the world’s infinite gifts.”

“haematograms reaches into the tight corners of the mind to seize instants of clarity. Ellis is unique in his knowing, sharpest when catching things that he knows won’t last. This is an impressive debut, one where the charm of the ordinary and the mysterious collide; where the reader is transported into the poet’s other-world to walk the edge of his imagining.”

So, if you are anywhere near Brisbane, tuck a poem or three in your pocket and come along. All readers in Open Mic Section are automatically in the running to be named Call-Back-Poet for the month. Each Call-Back-Poet earns themselves a feature spot at the final gig for the year in November as well as the opportunity to win cash prizes and be named SpeedPoets Open Mic Champion for 2013.

Hope to see you all there…

Date: Saturday March 30
Venue: The Hideaway, 188 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley
Time: Doors at 1:30pm for a 2pm Open Mic Start
Entry: Gold Coin Donation

Snake Weather: A Summer Renga (part iii)

As I post this, Snake Weather is crawling off on its final leg… so for now, please enjoy this third phase of the renga written by David Stavanger, Andy Smerdon, Cindy Keong, Graham Nunn, Chris Lynch, Trish Reid, John Wainwright, Helen Ross and Andrew Phillips.

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

he wears shoes to bed
she finds bones in her shoes
Spring cleaning

DS

*

bitter hands rip him
from the wedding photo

AS

*

again and again
she strikes – the familiar
sound of thunder

CK

*

the wild plum
rolls to a stop

GN

*

more insects
at the kitchen fluoro
endless rain

CL

*

frankincense dusk
just an oud and her voice

TR

*

mercury rises
pommie bastards are wet
dreaming of EIIR

JW

*

wine stains on the carpet
this broken heart

HR

*

electrostatic therapy
shock jumps of laughter
with the nieces

AP

River (part v)

[three fragments]

*

it was like this before speech
a sliding body that sounds
like silk

*

voices of the drowned
rise so whitely
they salt our throat

*

the ruined parts of yourself
wear the city’s wake like a scar

River (part iv)

[two fragments]

*

an urgent will
carries news of you
all the way to the sky

*

so many dialects
brown blue green
to add depth to
your shadows

River (part iii)

Since writing the fragments for River (parts i & ii), I have been wondering what they might become; what greater whole awaits them. For now, I have made a commitment to write twenty-four fragments, one for each ferry stop along the Brisbane River. I welcome you to take the ride with me…

[three fragments]

*

like a copper screw you rust
in the fist of morning

*

one drop flows impossibly into another

*

it exists as a mirage
there is you — but there is no me

River (part ii)

[two fragments]

*

waist deep in the darkness
you believe in
the body drifts further away

*

the moon sinks
with a sloosh and a hiss:
I am willing to follow

River

[three fragments]

*

following its contours
the first desire is
to salt my feet
hang them out to dry

*

head full of horizon
every stone I cast
becomes a bird

*

reaching the mouth doesn’t mean
shedding your skin
shedding your skin doesn’t mean
being swallowed whole