Publication???

Because I write poetry with little expectation of an audience, it is always a thrill to find that it resonates with someone else - especially if that someone else is an editor. And in the pile of mail on my desk when I returned from holidays was not just one but three collections of poetry containing my work.
The first was Eucalypt, an Australian tanka journal that comes out quarterly with contemporary tanka on a rainbow of topics. After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan many in this issue touched on the ensuing  shock and recovery. Others treated illness, love, family, gardens and travel, all were multi-layered and demanding several re-readings. I wrote the tanka that appears in this issue after marvelling at a group of tourists so obsessed with their own health that they wore plastic overshoes on their bare feet into a temple in Phnom Penn, completely missing the cool of the floor and the stillness of the place they crackled through.

the soles of my feet
on cool temple stone
in touch
with the earth
and the eternal


I was thrilled to find that I was a finalist in the jack stamm haiku  award and so appeared in moonrise and bare hills, the paper wasp haiku anthology 2010. Haiku is a favourite form of mine. I love the puzzle of packing so much into so little, of seeing analogies and of evoking the same 'aha' in a reader/hearer as I experienced when I was in the inspiring moment. These contemporary Australian haiku are not of the 5/7/5 variety or even necessarily in 3 lines. This anthology encapsulates the variety of haiku being produced in Australia and is available in hardcopy through the paper wasp site but unfortunately not online.

through the leaves
a shiver of rain
distant bells peal


The final collection Grevillea and Wonga Vine: Australian Tanka of Place was the most exciting for me. After 25 Australian poets were featured in the online journal Atlas Poetica: A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka, Beverley George, editor of Eucalypt decided to publish a hardcopy publication. She invited other poets to contribute additional work and produced a sumptuous, well-laid out tanka feast. Purchase is through:
Beverley George, 
    PO Box 37 Pearl Beach NSW 2256     Australia

Coastal escape

Just back from a week on the coast, strolling along beaches, clambering up rocks and enjoying the empty expanse of the sea. 

sea flings

waves across the sand

salsa dancers

eternal wash of waves

dog retrieving ball

again and again

winter sun

warms my wind-chilled cheek

your longed-for touch

wood-ducks

jostle for crumbs

lakeside cafe

sea heaves

waves upon the rocks

a mother’s sighs

Alice Springs sojourn

Many distractions from blogging - back again with a few haiku from Central Australia.

Rain had fallen and the desert was green and the gorges full of water.  Miles of rocky ridges divided expanses of sand and stone.

red rock
dressed in green
desert dreaming

 

I met many interesting people, some just for a quick conversation.

shooting star
blazes across the outback sky
company for a night 

3Lights

Very excited to find my String Quartet haiku in the spring edition of 3Lights!  You will find it at the bottom of the blog on page 9.  Read the whole journal and enjoy...

Mountains

mountains 
breach the morning mist
dolphins riding waves

pigeons

summer grasses

summer grasses
bent low by wind and rain
sleep-tousled hair

Kangaroo floats

kangaroo floats
over the fence -
balloon on a breeze

house to let

on the path
a crumpled snakeskin
house to let

Summer vegetables

The season is later here than in my hometown.  By now the zucchini vines have outgrown their roots and the fruit fly has discovered the reddening capsicum in the north west.  Here the tomatoes are just ready to pick, the chillis are sharp and the beans are sprouting overnight.

tomato

warm from the vine

the taste of summer

The Haiku Journey

I've been rereading Clark Strand's wonder-ful Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey again.  This morning on my walk I emptied my mind, as he suggested, and as well as I could with three dogs all tugging in different directions, and kept my eyes wide open.  I paused to watch two eastern rosellas squabbling in a bird bath and marvelled at the kangaroos' ability to keep perfectly still when they sensed us approaching.  Try as I might I couldn't find a haiku in either situation.  No flash of insight for me.
I sat in my lounge with my breakfast coffee when I got home and gazed across the paddocks, dry and brown as summer drags on.  Over the hills in the distance crept the blue haze portending another blazing hot day.

blue haze

creeps over the hills

summer stretches on

3lights

I'm working on a a haiku string for the next 3LIGHTS edition.  The theme is music so I guess it's right up my alley! If you have suitable work for the new online edition see:
http://3lights.wordpress.com/submissions/

 I'd recommend a visit to 3Lights beautiful gallery of poetry at
http://www.threelightsgallery.com/foyer.html

gum branch

gum branch cracks
the summer afternoon
baby screams

steam rising

steam rising
after summer rain
false hopes

face

face
in the crowd
a crack in time