haiku

lizard in
a woodpile, looking
for its tree

Anzac Day Aussie Rules Match

burke: FOOTY #116

'Hey, he was held on to, ump!' Again
my wife is telling them how to play -
'Ahh, shit! You bloody idiot!'
deep breath. 'Oh, I guess you'll learn ...'

I'm listening to poets read their own works
in one room - 'Oh, bastard, kick straight!
C'mon!' She interrupts William Carlos Williams
to tell me the pot plants in the sun need some water

then turns back to the telly - 'Keep at it! Keep at it!'
Cometti gets excited as the opposition kicks a goal.
'Oh, Jesus! You idiots! Have a go will ya!'
I go to water the plants in the fading sun.

Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

by William Shakespeare

 

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

And moan th' expense of many a vanish'd sight;

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

Geelong Memoir Competition DUE 30TH aPRIL

April! View this email in your browser

Reminder: Saturday 30th April Cut-off Date! Geelong Writers Memoir Competition – 1500 words DUE – April 30th, 2016. Email entries to – gwanth2015@gmail.com   PRIZES: 1st Prize $ 100; 2nd Prize $ 80; 3rd Prize $ 60 &  7 Honourable mentions All stories selected will be offered publication in the 2016 anthology. Some light editing may be applied. No Entry Fee However, we do encourage you to be on our mailing list (follow the link) http://www.geelongwriters.com/subscribe-today RULES Only 1 submission per author. Memoir writing genre (open theme) Suitable for any age group e.g. children, young adult, adult.   Guidelines for submission Microsoft Word submission must not have any identifying features apart from the title. Separate attachment for contact details page including email, address and phone number. OPTIONALTO INCLUDE - 120 word Biography. To be published in anthology if selected. Can include links. Page Layout Times New Roman; Size 12; Single Spacing Word Limit 1500 words or as close to as possible. DO NOT GO OVER. You will void your submission. Word count does not include the title.

Joe Farnsworth & Dale Barlow in Oz

Wishful Thinking (poem)

'journey of the fallen leaf back to the branch' - Franz Wright

After reading an elegy
which had me in tears
I came across these words.
Somehow they apply.
Maybe when we exit,
we meet our dead
gone before us - leaves
back on the branch. A lot
of maybe in my philosophy
And then the living
catch up with us.
Seems fair. I never met
Franz Wright but I'm
a fan. Maybe it is
wishful thinking. It's
autumn here and the leaves
are multi-coloured
on and off the trees.


- Andrew

haiku

wishbone drying
on a kitchen windowsill -
wow! all that money!

Hear all of Shakespeare's Sonnets LIVE in Canberra

SHAKESPEARE: THE SONNETS OUT LOUD SATURDAY 30 APRIL 7PM My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are, At random from the truth vainly expressed: For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night. The Sonnets have invited imitation, homage, critique, parody and pastiche over the last four hundred years and continue to be infinitely quotable popping up everywhere – in film, song, stories, and life! To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, join us for a complete reading of these much loved works by renowned Shakespearean actor William Zappa and outstanding vocalist actor Tobias Cole, with live accompaniment by Benn Sutcliffe, in an absorbing evening directed by Dianna Nixon.   A rare opportunity to enjoy a complete reading of every one of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. ... SHAKESPEARE: THE SONNETS OUT LOUD A Street Contemporary Drama Presentation Saturday 30 April @ 7pm FULL: $35 CONCESSION: $30 GROUP 4+: $25 Performance Length : Part 1 : 7pm---8:30pm INTERVAL Part 2 : 9pm---10:45pm  Featuring William Zappa and  Tobias Cole                              Music  Benn Sutcliffe Director Dianna Nixon                                                              Design Gillian Schwab                                                                                                      Stage Manager  Ketura Budd Location 15 Childers St, City West ACT 2601 Directions & Map Opening hours Mon - Fri: 9am - 6pm + 1.5 hours prior to performance 02 6247 1223 street@thestreet.org.au

QUIET STREET (poem)

Today she is wearing
her Rastafarian beanie
as she walks past
our house on her way
to meet her husband,
to walk him back
to their flat and
fuck him, feed him
and walk him back
to work. Such is
his lunch break.
Otherwise
it's a quiet street with

not much happening.

Jesus bathtime

MEMORIES poem / 1st draft

On this warm autumn day
I remember my father, in
winter in the Fifties, driving
his shiny black V8 Pilot through
the overflowing Swan River
lapping over the Esplanade's
parameter road
and us kids - still
in shorts - riding barefoot on
the running boards. We were
having fun, such carefree fun
with our fun-loving father
at the wheel and our worried
mother beside him.

*

In the sailor's space of
my brother's VJ yacht

on blocks in our backyard
rain water gathered and

big leaves swam, life
rich with decay. I leant

over the edge, homework
done, parents absent, and dangled

a podgy hand into the shadows
in the waters, hoping, daring,

piranhas and leeches to
take my being away.


- Andrew Burke