mango moon
don’t go to sleep
I’m not finished with you
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.
mango moon
don’t go to sleep
I’m not finished with you
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.
another attempt
the dashboard dog
shakes its head
.
.
.
Haven’t written much in a while. Happy to be playing with this short form again.
green crayon
this haiku
is non-toxic
.
pregnant wife
I can’t hide
my breath
.
under the bridge
how something grows in the cracks
of this heart
.
.
.
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
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.
.
a friar bird in the banksia
on her phone again
.
.
.
.
For those not familiar with the friar bird’s chatter here ’tis:
too close
stand back from the road
little grey gum
bush track
in thongs
every stick slithers
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:
.
hawks on a kangaroo
pick the last bites of their meal
fly back to their nest
.
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:
.
one two three four five
one two three four five six sev
3 five 12… eight
.
workin on the railway
carpet burn on my knees
white petal guppies take a look
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.
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
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.
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
for the neighbour’s tree
good sake though
my japanese friend…
why you do not celebrate
the jacaranda?
I’m really excited, on Sunday afternoon I’ll be joining some friends under a backyard jacaranda with a few drinks to celebrate these few weeks of bloom before they litter the streets with purple muck mulch. I think there will be some Sake there too, just to link it to the cherry blossom festival. Yewww!
grevilleas
silent
a branch still shakes
.
digging up the street
yellow shovels
in the sandpit