thinking Queensland (while in California)

mango moon
don’t go to sleep
I’m not finished with you

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I haven’t posted in a while and found this among my haiku sketchings. Just something hot and sticky while I watch the mountains turn white here in Northern California.

senryu #P

another attempt
the dashboard dog
shakes its head

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Haven’t written much in a while. Happy to be playing with this short form again.

haiku

 

green crayon 
this haiku
is non-toxic

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pregnant wife 
I can’t hide 
my breath

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under the bridge 
how something grows in the cracks 
of this heart

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hi koo I sen’ you

saturday jacarandas
line up for the tour bus

twenty-one tongues
groove words in old queensland
floorboards

today is wind
coffee prices
need picking up

Winter Ginko: City Botanic Gardens

Graham Nunn (Another Lost Shark) led us on a ginko (a haiku walk) on Sunday. Here are some of the local Brisbane poets and our haiku here:

Winter Ginko: City Botanic Gardens.

 

 

friar bird (haiku)

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a friar bird in the banksia
on her phone again

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For those not familiar with the friar bird’s chatter here ’tis:

haiku

too close
stand back from the road
little grey gum

my first haiku

Mum gave me a box recently. It contained all of my schooling stuff from kindergarten and up. It’s a large box. Two large boxes actually. In it I found probably the first haiku I ever wrote. Here it is after years in an attic space, published for the first time:

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hawks on a kangaroo
pick the last bites of their meal
fly back to their nest

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I wasn’t expecting genius and nor should you.  I don’t remember the moment. It’s clearly Australian and I’m pretty proud of little Andrew having a go.

It does provide a good opportunity for a response ku though. To primary school teachers everywhere:

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one two three four five
one two three four five six sev
3 five 12… eight

 

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Month of Poetry #5 – haiku

 

white petal guppies take a look

 

Daisy haiku

 

the bees buzz buzily
I wonder if they’re making honey
for me

My niece has been reading my haiku and decided to have a crack at it herself.  She is 9 years old and lives in northern NSW.

 

up, take a breath and down again, kick!
gliding through the water

dragon-fly dances
the flowers giggle

 

Cool ku Daisy.

 

ginko – a haiku walk

 

walking in thongs
along the track
every stick slithers

For the months of October and November I’ve been writing haiku with a group of poets in different locations in Brisbane.  Here’s a few of mine and a link to some of the other ku by the group.

longevity bench
the old man
smokes a packet

white stains
by the ice cream stall
sacred ibis

Here are the links to some of the ginko haiku over at Another Lost Shark.   Kurilpa Bridge    City Botanic Gardens     Brunswick St     Southbank     Mt Gravatt Mountain

 

Stuff going on (and a fishing poem)

clouds swirl
the brisbane eye turns
with the tide

I’ve been a Pied Hill Prawn.   Not all business, some pleasure, and holidays.  More on that later.  Speedpoet’s went well.  I think.  I wasn’t in the audience so hard to say.  I had a ball anyway.  It was fun reading my poems and the haiku/senryu set with Sheish was sweet.  Sheish played harmonica between each ku.  A cleansing of the palate between images.   Loved it.  Thanks for those who came out especially to support and there were those Speedpoet’s regulars in the audience who were very encouraging.  Cheers.

I’ve been participating in Ginko walks for the past few Sundays.  It’s put on by the Queensland Writers Centre and lead by haiku poet Graham Nunn of Another Lost Shark.  Check out this link to the group’s haiku from Kurilpa Bridge.  Hop around Graham’s recent posts to see some anxious poetry about waiting for their baby to decide to head out.

Here is a poem from my recent time with the family down at the Tweed Coast.

Fishing
(with children)

The car park is a long piece of gravel
feet are light and the nylon line

must be cast for them.  Patience catches
nothing half way through a tide

that encouraging nibble
would be nice.  Their fish is given up

for casting stones into the river.  Heavy
sinkers are found at the bottom

of the box.  Another hour of biting
complaints and the car park is a long piece of gravel.

Speedpoets November 6th

This Sunday 6th November I’ll be performing at Speedpoets as a feature poet. Yeeewww! The always encouraging Graham Nunn of Another Lost Shark gave me an invitation and I’m really excited about stepping up to read a handful of my poems. It’ll be the longest set I’ve performed. I’ll also be reading haiku and senryu as part of the set (with a little harmonica help on the side from Sheish Money). Can’t wait!

Also performing on Sunday is The Stress of Leisure with an old friend Pascal Burton (poet, artist, musician) and Ian from their recent residency at the Brisbane Powerhouse, AND a new friend (who for some reason insists on calling me Dustin) Michael Cohen who is the other local feature poet performing his humorous poetry.

There is also the open mic, free zines, entry is a gold coin so hope to see you there for the final Speedpoets for 2011 at Brew, Lower Burnett Lane, Brisbane City 2pm.

Finally a ku:

quiet all year until now
jacarandas

purple envy

purple envy
for the neighbour’s tree
good sake though

haiku

 

 

grevilleas
silent
a branch still shakes

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digging up the street – senryu

 

digging up the street
yellow shovels
in the sandpit 

Winter moon

storm water drain
my feet catch
the moonlight 

fishermen cast
into the Winter moon
wizzzzzz

I went for a ginko walk last night up at Scarborough to watch the Winter moon rise up out of the water.  It was a spectacular sight.  A group of us wrote and shared haiku under direction from Brisbane haiku poet Graham Nunn.  Check out Thursday morning’s red moon and haiku by Graham over at Another Lost Shark

senryu

we dance
around his grin
next to the potty

Brisbane’s pesky locals

For some reason this week there’s been some poetic interest in the feral, good for nothing, ugly, will pinch a chip out of your fingers, sings like my great aunty, local Brisbane birds (no offence aunty).  Here is a sensational poem called ‘Why do we hate the crow?’ by a new blog friend Gabrielle Bryden.  Click on the mp3 recording.  It is well worth it.

Lee-Anne Davie has been writing haiku and you’ll find this (as well as plenty of others) at Another Lost Shark Sandgate Ginko: Lee-Anne Davie

a lone ibis fossicks

in the mangroves

nothing

I had to laugh at the misfortune of the old ibis but there seems to be a great deal of sympathy out there.  Here is John Wainwright at MirrorMosaicOfSounds :

noisy bird

enticing me

no-one else

A stone's throw from Chermside (don't even think about it!)

 

For some unknown reason, I’ve been getting cosy with Brisbane’s ‘pests’ – I wrote this last week:

during smoko

collecting nearby twigs

tones down his aaark

And here is a ‘fresh’ Saturday sequence of my own:

early morning car park full of sunlight

 

at the truck stop

morning birds

pick at a meat pie crust

 

I guess there’s no rush…

a crow walks

across the road

 

each time another

joins the banquet –

magpies lift their song

 

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Peace to the pesky Brisbane locals

Ginko walks and Confit Bistro gig

Confit Bistro buzzed last night with Jack Kerouac’ poetry and haiku read by Graham Nunn and Julie Beveridge, Cindy Keong reading her own poetry from her Tanzania trip last year and Sheish Money and Jane Sheehy  playing their own brand of poetic riffs on guitar and keys.  Here’s a haiku I wrote during one of Sheish’s songs:

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steel tube

could have been under the sink –

slide guitar

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Some poet friends of mine have been participating in ginko (haiku walks) with Brisbane haiku poet Graham Nunn.  Sadly, I’ve not been able to join them but Graham has posted some of their work up at Another Lost Shark  Ginko – Vuong Ginko – Lee-Anne. Check it out.