Winter Ginko: City Botanic Gardens (part ii)

As we head into the weekend, it’s the perfect time to slip into that haiku headspace… here’s a few poems from John Wainwright, Tamara Fletcher and Jonathan Hadwen to help you on your way.

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44th k.
the iPod has no song
for this

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suburb of sailboats
neighbours
compare masts

Jonathan Hadwen

[photograph by Andrew Phillips]

length of her pink tongue
a standard measure of happiness

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magenta t-shirt
a Sunday caricature
of himself

Tamara Fletcher

[photograph by John Wainwright]

one curlew
alone
the widow learns to walk again

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bird of paradise bows to the noisy mynah

John Wainwright

My Aching Back: Lyndon Norton Remix

It’s time for one last remix of My Aching Back… and with this post comes the news that the original poem will be published in Kokako, a fine journal of Japanese forms published in New Zealand. It’s wonderful to see this poem reaching a wide audience. So now, it’s over to Lyndon to give it one last spin…

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My Aching Back: Lyndon Norton Remix

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)

as I put down the rake
the sky darkens

(Lyndon Norton)

Link #3 (3 lines) – daisan (non seasonal)

cold night
our words
left hanging

(Cindy Keong)

Side 2 – ha part one – development

Link #4 (2 lines) – winter  moon

stuck up a tree
winter moon

(Andy Smerdon)

Link #5 (3 lines) – non seasonal

not even the radio
tonight
a bus passes

(Jonathan Hadwen)

Link #6 (2 lines) – non seasonal

the old dog dreams
of the chase

(Mal Keeble)

Side 3 – ha part two – intensification

Link #7 (3 lines) – spring blossom

along the edge
of her grave
a row of daffodils

(Cindy Keong)

Link #8 (2 lines) – spring

shadows shrink
sun cannot warm the air

(John Wainwright)

Link #9 (3 lines) – non seasonal

behind teeth
a storm gathers
I cannot swallow this

(Nigel Ellis)

Side 4 – kyu – finale

Link #10 (2 lines)- non seasonal, love verse

all that remains
broken on the shoreline

(Cindy Keong)

Link #11 (3 lines) – non seasonal, love verse

incoming tide
waiting for
the next wave

(Cindy Keong)

Link #12 (2 lines) – ageku (summer)

nothing matters
after sunset

(Carly Jay Metcalfe)

Boondall Wetlands Ginko

On Sunday, ten of us embraced our haiku spirit and the natural wonder of the Boondall Wetlands as we set off on our Autumn Ginko. The sky was endless blue and the wind had a crispness to it… as did the poems that were shared after our time spent walking / sitting / dreaming. There is such a warmth and sense of kinship amongst the group… a sense of togetherness and discovery that is truly inspiring.

I hope that feeling shines through in these poems and that they give you the same inner sparkle that I get each time I read them.

Thank you also to Cindy Keong for her always stunning photography… already looking forward to our winter walk at Slaughter Falls.

[photograph by Cindy Keong]

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self-guided tour, making a note to learn how

(Chris Lynch)

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sunlit grass
my eye loses the way

(Roger Callen)

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on the shorebirds turf
a crab filters mud

(Andy Smerdon)

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[photograph by Cindy Keong]

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to kill the mosquito
he slaps my face gently

(Matt Hetherington)

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some tree species show every bump of the cyclist

(Andrew Phillips)

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stingless bee
the old man
picks a flower

(Jonathan Hadwen)

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[photograph by Cindy Keong]

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after the poets leave the crow comes

(John Wainwright)

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daydreaming
further and further
off-track

(Cindy Keong)

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river mouth
my brother’s infected toe

(David Stavanger)

Light Up Your Sunday at The Back Room

This Sunday, The Back Room at Confit Bistro (4/9 Doggett St, Fortitude Valley) showcases some fine local talent, including live poetry from Jonathan Hadwen, the circus stylings of performer Ellen Grow, visual art from Samantha Norman, the sweet jazz of Sarah Collyer and the debut live performance of some of the work from the Friday Night Lights Project, including the live sounds of Sheish Money and an exhibition of photography by Cindy Keong. So if you are looking for something to light up your Sunday afternoon, look no further!

Doors open at 4pm and if you have a poem or two, fold them in your pocket, as the mic is Open!

Here’s a hit of what you will experience!

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Route 199
by Jonathan Hadwen

You can fall in love
on nights like this
delayed and distracted
on your way home from work
too long since you last ate

sitting in a daze
crammed on a bus
next to a girl with Scandinavian skin
a girl so beautiful you might think
she floats across the top of life

There are nights when you expect strangers
to throw kisses not punches
those kisses buzzing in the air
in your ear
filling the space left by non-existent conversation

There are nights
saved for cities and crowds
and bus rides
in which you might fall in love
and then out of love again
before you’ve even reached
the next stop.

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Ellen Grow in action!

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Creature by Samantha Norman

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Image by Cindy Keong

Just before I go…

If you are anywhere near Brisbane next Wednesday night, The Back Room at Confit Bistro is keeping the QLD Poetry Festival love flowing with a showcase of artists from the 2011 program.

The night will feature Sheish Money, Jane Sheehy and Nick Powell premiering work from their new show, Shift; Jeremy Thompson, who’s poem, First City Christmas at Grandmas was shortlisted in the recent, 2010 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize; and readings from three members of the QPF Committee, Jonathan Hadwen, Lee-Anne Davie and Zenobia Frost. Each will read a selection of their own poems as well as a poem from one of the international/interstate artists on the QPF Program.

Confit Bistro is located at 4/9 Doggett St, Fortitude Valley and has a sensational tapas style menu and wine list. Entry is free!

Autumn Sunset (part II): an Autumn Kasen Renga

turn of the tide
the mainsail catches
a fresh wind                                               (ld)

upstream
the tugboat pulls its own weight        (jh)

your iridescence
lures me
ephemera                                                    ( tm)

flashes of noon light in the forest
last of the plum blossoms                     (vp)

summer heat
so brittle
the fresh cut flower                                  (jk)

distant thunder
the hopeful croak of a frog                     (ck)

shortest night
hot in the storm
of your eyes                                                 (jw)

from beneath the rubble
the bloom of forget-me-nots                 (ld)

again
that memory of you
reading me to sleep                                    (jh)

ghost gum and evening star
alone in my back yard                              ( tm)

insects rise up
from the pasture
autumn moon                                               (vp)

the gleam
of a magpie’s beak                                        (jk)

sports carnival
war cries
high as an autumn sky                                (jk)

wrapped in your arms
the air hangs on every breath                 (ck)

from our tree
children
gather fruit                                                       (jw)

early sun                         
a lizard begins its thaw                                (ld)

as the season closes
azaleas open
white, pink, red                                                (jh)

moving forward
you light each lantern from the last       ( tm)

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Started: April 3, 2011
Finished: May 24, 2011

Written between: Cindy Keong, John Wainwright, Lee-Anne Davie, Jonathan Hadwen, Trudie Murrell, Vuong Pham & John Koenig

Autumn Sunset (an Autumn Kasen Renga)

As part of the recent Ginko Series I ran for QLD Writers Centre, I took on the role of sabaki for the group as they took on the job or writing an Autumn Kasen Renga. I am absolutely thrilled with the result and am very proud to share with you the first half of their renga, Autumn Sunset. I will post the second half tomorrow. Please enjoy!

Started: April 3, 2011
Finished: May 24, 2011

Written between: Cindy Keong, John Wainwright, Lee-Anne Davie, Jonathan Hadwen, Trudie Murrell, Vuong Pham & John Koenig

Autumn Sunset

autumn sunset
the glow of one
ripe cherry                                                       (ck)

ANZAC moon chills
the airman before dawn                              (jw)

fly over
swallows leave the sky
to the clouds                                                     (ld)

the rain finds me
I let each drop strike home                        (jh)

sudden chill
winter coat smells
of last year’s mothballs                                ( tm)

mist creeps through
the pines at dusk                                             (vp)

lost again
in the darkness
a mosquito bites                                             (vp)

a searching mouth
tastes the salt on my lips                             (jk)

first light
the morning dissolves
with aspirin and tears                                   (ck)

the percolator warbles
up the coffee                                                     (jw)

your image
painted on canvas
the view that remains                                    (ld)

from the lookout
the seagull stares down the waves           (jh)

moon on the rise
in winter everything
seems closer                                                     ( tm)

dandelions frozen
wind I wish you luck                                     (vp)

first frost
sharpens the senses
fire wood to be cut                                         (jk)

footprints point north
across the paddock                                       (ck)

sun comes
two lilies
propose spring                                                (jw)

new season spawns
a mackerel sky                                                 (ld)