It’s show time here in Brisbane… one of my favourite times of year. So to celebrate, here’s a new haiku capturing a little bit of the Ekka experience.

into the lights
of the ferris wheel
the smell of cow shit

winter sun: a haiku sequence

This morning, while thousands pounded the pathways of the City Botanic Gardens as part of the Brisbane Marathon, eight of us walked, sat and opened our minds to the lush green landscape, the chorus of birds, the emptiness of sky. This was the third in the QPF ginko series, and while it was officially the ‘winter ginko’, the sun had a sneaky bite to it. I will be posting a handful of poems from the eight poets who joined me this week, but for now, here’s a handful of poems I collected today.

winter sun
the ball in
the collie’s eyes

*

shooing the ibis
she lets the toddler
cry

*

V of gulls
in love with the shape
of the river

*

finish line
the marathon runner drags
his shadow

*

crows
in the bamboo grove
the wind rattles on

nature trail: a haiku sequence

To follow on from yesterday, here’s a selection of my own haiku from the Karawatha State Forest ginko…  the place, the poets and their poems continue to resonate…

[photographs by Cindy Keong]

nature trail
the song of crickets
becomes a stream

*

summer sky
seen through eucalypts
seen through

ants
on the fallen eucalypt
all moving

*

leaves
among them
the lizard’s tail

Grace (for t.h.e)

photograph by Cindy Keong

At the front of the queue
mother and daughter
curse the mouth
that has swallowed the last
of their ping-pong balls

You and I look on
amazed at the generosity
of the clown
who through all this
keeps smiling

Traveling West

I am just back from a trip out to Roma and feeling in love all over again with the wide open landscapes of Western QLD. I had the great privilege of meeting with many local writers and will be blogging about my experience on the Arts QLD site in the next few days. I will let you know when the post goes live, so you can click on over to join the discussion about writing in this great state of ours.

Enter: The Zen Space

The Zen Space has just published their Winter 2012 Showcase and I am excited to have a handful of ‘zen firecrackers’  featured. So why not head on over and let your mind inhabit The Zen Space… there is stillness and delight awaiting.

Christmas

beetles rattle in the grass
like radio static, until
their wings spring open
& rust slowly in the sun

**********

Much love to you all for the festive season and thank you to everyone who has supported this blog over the last three years… here’s to a creatively sparkling 2012.

fooling: a haiku sequence

Sunday was another restless Spring day, the sky constnatly shifting from grey to blue. Again, I had the pleasure of starting the day by leading a ginko around the City Botanic Gardens. Here’s a selection of the haiku I gathered on my travels:

sleeping ducks
and my tired face
between them

*

still pond
a dragonflies’ silence
and mine

bamboo grove
ants march toward
the sky

*

you and I
fooling in the leaves
bush turkey

half-
unbuttoning her shirt
spring breeze

*

crows
in the peepul tree
sharing our poems

photographs by Cindy Keong

Bellbird

          for Ashley

spring rain
cascading through
the melaleuca
clear notes
of the bellbird

********************

chasing the wind: a spring haiku sequence

On Sunday, I lead my first Spring ginko (haiku walk) around the gorgeous State Library/Gallery of Modern Art precinct and over the Kurilpa Bridge. Here are a few haiku I brought back from my travels… and I will have the pleasure of featuring the work of my fellow walkers over the coming days.

                                                             spring river
                                                             only this path
                                                             to follow

                                                             following a wind
                                                             blown skirt
                                                             every eye

                                                             spring
                                                             the way a boy chases
                                                             the breeze

                                                             after each ferry
                                                             the shhhh
                                                             of mangroves

photography by Cindy Keong