I Con: New and Selected Poems by Tim Thorne
Salt Publishing, 2008
History is a con. Every second year undergrad haunting a uni bar knows that. Understanding history is not who did what to whom when, it is how the narrative reflects on the teller and the audience. I Con: New and Selected Poems, the justly deserved retrospective of Tasmania poet Tim Thorne published in a beautiful hard cover edition by Salt, works its playful magic in the fluid space between fact and myth.
The Other Way Out by Bronwyn Lea
Giramondo Publishing, 2008
Young Rain by Kevin Hart
Giramondo Publishing, 2008
One of the most prominent features of these two recent titles – by two of Australia's most successful poets, published by one of the country's most exciting literary publishers – is their emphasis on the erotic. By engaging with unambiguously sexual themes and imagery, Bronwyn Lea and Kevin Hart have produced texts that beguile and entertain their reader through the evocation of, or a yearning for, romance and sensuality, whilst also running the risk of reducing allusion and openness in meaning by describing a definite, rather familiar, concept.
flub-a-dub in the purple west helicopter(David G. Lanoue)a bald eagle atop the sharp left turn sign(Naia)a woman knits flowers on a soldier's grave(Lawrence)her second husband wears red-framed glasses(SAT??Æ Ayaka)apple sack and a library book about gravity(Deborah P Kolodji)eternal doldrums on the Sea of Tranquility(josh wikoff)in no time a lonely cricket calls the tune(Vasile Moldovan)Don Marquis' archy cocks a snook at humans(Kathy Earsman)small business the pub owner strokes a huge belly(Origa)her best rose-covered cup dulled by dust(Sandra Simpson)all night the humpbacks speak of love(josh wikoff)a water lily opens in Kakadu(Anne Elvey)my hand on the rock no space for a shadow(Sandra Simpson)da Vinci knows of these things light shade and objects(Rhonda Poholke)by the window who sits stitching pearls onto silk?(Genevieve Osborne)in poverty's grip identity folds(Michael Roper)cherry blossom drift- here comes the poet with his hippopotamus(Lorin Ford)listening to Pink Floyd still on the hit list(Barbara A Taylor)children laugh unafraid of the past in the summer grass(Keiji Minato)a ladybug of leisure wanders upside-down(Fleur)on a city tram opening to Han Shan's distances(Lorin Ford)cold mountain range plays hidden music(Joseph Mueller)hunting truffles the sow cannot help herself(Ashley Capes)the streets are empty now rumble of a tank(Greg Rochlin)after the lightning strike a ti-tree blooms in halves(Rhonda Poholke)a divorced mother bungee jumps(Aldia)tattooed on the back of her neck a howling Jesus(David G. Lanoue)a cardboard alphabet tacked to backyard trees(Joseph Mueller)our renga booklet- the wind turns leaf after leaf and the moon reads it(Vasile Moldovan)the players rehearse on Prospero's isle(Lorin Ford)after midnight it all goes topsy-turvy(Genevieve Osborne)youtube koalas munch on pixel gum leaves(David Prater)cross-species kindness - a fireman offers his water bottle(Anne Elvey)morning meditation a crow disrupts my shadow(Graham Nunn)garden lilac unfurling at the tempo of its fragrance(Origa)our postman arrives - pitter-patter tin drum(Michael Roper)
This is the final result of Cordite's experiment in interactive renga, with Keiji Minato acting as renga master. To see how this renga came into being, check out the 1024 comments on Haikunaut Island Renga 1 and Haikunaut Island Renga 2. Haikunauts are go!
Magisterium by Joel Deane
Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2008
Magisterium is the second collection by Joel Deane, following on from his debut collection Subterranean Radio Songs and his debut novel Another. In an interview with Paul Mitchell published in Cordite in 2006, when asked about the interplay between his work as speechwriter for the Premier of Victoria and his other life as a poet, Deane cited American poet Eleanor Wilner, who said of poets that, 'We need to take back the rhetorical high ground from the politicians who degrade it'. Deane went on express the hope that the poems contained in his next book might approach 'the kind of apocalyptic public language' hinted at by Wilner. Such ambitions can sound a little lofty, but Magisterium would seem to be a successful achievement of that goal.
Ten Years of Things That Didn't Kill Us edited by Daniel Watson et al
Paroxysm Press, 2008
When Paroxysm Press sent out their call for submissions in March last year for an anthology titled Ten Years of Things That Didn't Kill Us, they had just one piece of advice for writers: 'we want it to be as Paroxysm as hell'. The result – a collection of poetry and prose from writers well-known to Paroxysm followers along with a number of new contributors – isn't intended to please everyone. This is a challenging collection of stinging truths and shocking moments, along with occasional touches of beauty.
Poetry Without Borders edited by Michelle Cahill
Picaro Press, 2008
There is a deep sigh of relief when we come across Poetry Without Borders, an anthology willing to cross unknown terrain to bring us the voices of poets rarely heard. Whether it's due to language, cultural, economic or psychological factors, those poets who have migrated or are considered to be 'new arrivals' are hardly published. Though quite a few of these poets are established and held in high esteem in their countries of origin, they are considered to be voices of the periphery in Australia or, at best, 'emerging' voices.
Novaless I-XXVI by Nicholas Manning
Achiote Press, 2007
These words came to mind when I tried to list the main concerns of this twenty-six poem sequence: light, love, perception and apperception, rapture, thought, things, stars, source, memory. The poems in Novaless I-XXVI are highly sensual, their strange disjunctive images always in the process of forming or resolving in the mind. The sequence as a whole seems to be concerned as much with the operations of thinking and sensing as with any outside objects of reference. Nicholas Manning's poetics works against the divide between exterior and interior. His siding with complexity, in these and other ways, is suggested in the first lines of the book: 'to speak / of * the forgotten / is easy lyricism…'
children laugh unafraid of the past in the summer grass(Keiji Minato)a ladybug of leisure wanders upside-down(Fleur)on a city tram opening to Han Shan's distances(Lorin Ford)cold mountain range plays hidden music(Joseph Mueller)hunting truffles the sow cannot help herself(Ashley Capes)the streets are empty now rumble of a tank(Greg Rochlin)after the lightning strike a ti-tree blooms in halves(Rhonda Poholke)a divorced mother bungee jumps(Aldia)tattooed on the back of her neck a howling Jesus(David G. Lanoue)a cardboard alphabet tacked to backyard trees(Joseph Mueller)our renga booklet- the wind turns leaf after leaf and the moon reads it(Vasile Moldovan)the players rehearse on Prospero's isle(Lorin Ford)after midnight it all goes topsy-turvy(Genevieve Osborne)youtube koalas munch on pixel gum leaves(David Prater)cross-species kindness - a fireman offers his water bottle(Anne Elvey)morning meditation a crow disrupts my shadow(Graham Nunn)garden lilac unfurling at the tempo of its fragrance(Origa)our postman arrives - pitter-patter tin drum(Michael Roper)
This is Part 2 of Free Haikunaut Renga. Comments for this post have now been closed.
For a summary of Cordite's haikunaut renga project, please read this post. Haikunauts are go!
Growing Up with Mr Menzies by John Jenkins
John Leonard Press, 2008
John Jenkins' narrative verse, Growing Up with Mr Menzies, begins with an imagined visit by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, to the Elwood home of the infant Felix Hayes. Like a Wise Man at a nativity, Menzies bears a gift, a 'considerably handsome' pocket watch, which he dangles over Felix's cot. The baby responds firstly with smiles and dribbles, but then shows interest in the new object. This interest is deserved, as the watch symbolises the events and ideas which will inform and haunt Felix's later life.
flub-a-dub in the purple west helicopter(David G. Lanoue)a bald eagle atop the sharp left turn sign(Naia)a woman knits flowers on a soldier's grave(Lawrence)her second husband wears red-framed glasses(SAT??Æ Ayaka)apple sack and a library book about gravity(Deborah P Kolodji)eternal doldrums on the Sea of Tranquility(josh wikoff)in no time a lonely cricket calls the tune(Vasile Moldovan)Don Marquis' archy cocks a snook at humans(Kathy Earsman)small business the pub owner strokes a huge belly(Origa)her best rose-covered cup dulled by dust(Sandra Simpson)all night the humpbacks speak of love(josh wikoff)a water lily opens in Kakadu(Anne Elvey)my hand on the rock no space for a shadow(Sandra Simpson)da Vinci knows of these things light shade and objects(Rhonda Poholke)by the window who sits stitching pearls onto silk?(Genevieve Osborne)in poverty's grip identity folds(Michael Roper)cherry blossom drift- here comes the poet with his hippopotamus(Lorin Ford)listening to Pink Floyd still on the hit list(Barbara A Taylor)
This is Part 1 of Free Haikunaut Renga. Comments for this post have now been closed. For a summary of Cordite's haikunaut renga project, please read this post. Haikunauts are go!
The Best Australian Poems 2008 edited by Peter Rose
Black Inc., 2008
When an anthology purports to represent the best poetry of a time or region, it's fair to assume someone will question the validity of its publication. 'On what criteria is this judged?' some readers might wonder. 'Can poetry really have a best?' others will ask. 'Why wasn't I included?' a few may dare voice aloud. The word 'Australian' can be just as controversial. 'What does 'Australian' mean?'; 'Can these poets really speak for us?' The answers provided by The Best Australian Poems 2008 are indirect at best.
Renga is a collaborative form of poetry from Japan. In Japan it is now called “renku,” but the term “renga” has been internationally used for quite a long time, so let's go with “renga” here. Renga was born from the tradition of waka, the traditional/prestigious poetic form with 5-7-5-7-7 morae (sound units), in the 12th century. In the beginning it rigidly followed the high aesthetic of old waka in the Royal Court. However, later it began to incorporate secular elements and gave birth to a genre called haikai-no-renga (roughly meaning “mock-renga”) or haikai. Since the end of the 19th century it has been commonly called “renku.” Well, it has quite a tradition …
пълнолуние проститутката ме нарича ангелfull moon the call girl calls me angelнай-дългата нощ гарван краде очите на снежен човекthe longest night a raven steals the eyes of a snowmanнощна буря мисля за куклите на таванаnight storm I’m thinking about the dolls in the atticзадушница отварям черния чадър на баща миAll Souls' Day I open my father's black umbrellaincessant rain a book from a library that no longer exists
First appeared in Shiki Kukai, February 2008, First Place, Ginyu 28, October 2005, Shiki Kukai, December 2006, Second place; Big Sky: The Red Moon Anthology 2006. Final haiku written in English only – The Heron’s Nest 9.4, December 2007 and Dust of Summers: The Red Moon Anthology 2007.
parting . . . the clatter of train tracks into darkfather's old books . . . today I open the cabinet just to breathe themleaving the cabin for the last time . . . pine dust on my shoestumbling snowflakes . . . I lose my thought to the space between deck planksnew love . . . still some green in these autumn leaves
First published in (1) Tempes Libre (Belgium), June 2007; (2) SxSE (South x South East) V. 13, No. 2; (3) Acorn, Fall 2001; (4) Frogpond (June 2002); and (5) The Heron’s Nest, January 2003.
red dust-- a little boy sprints the bases between inningsnew century-- the neighbor's rusty car still on blocksmisty river-- the drone of the drawbridge still in my earsautumn sunset hospital helicopter rises from the heliportspring moon I bend to touch my daughter's name on the tombstone
First published in (1) The Heron’s Nest, Volume III, Number 1: January, 2001; (2) The Heron’s Nest, Volume III, Number 5: May, 2001; (3) The Heron’s Nest, Volume VII, Number 4: December, 2005; (4) Frogpond, Volume 31 Number 2, Spring/Summer 2008; (5) Modern Haiku, Volume 39 Number 1, Winter-Spring 2008.
O Holy Night the burglar's footprints in snowafter her suicide we learn her namecrying tears of pigeon shit the bronze kingfood poisoned in France a night of drizzlespizza parlor after the murders help wanted
a variety of things fall down under the dark of trees
いろいろなものおちてくる木下闇
a baby spider climbs up along my trousers’ crease
蜘蛛の子の服の折目をかけあがる
in a house where nobody comes a mackerel sky
たれもこぬ栖家にねむり鰯雲
morning glory’s seeds all black I shut the big door
まつくろな朝顔の種大戸閉づ
whenever I squeeze a citron I’m at twilight
青柚子を絞ればいつもたそがるる
(All of the above haiku first appeared in Toru Kiuchi, Hanazuou [Sappan] Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 1997).
the endless loop of the men's room towel this morningin murky light in grand-dad's attic gelignitebeneath the Milky Way an evening soft with mothspain fading the days back to wildernessbetween statues the rest of history
First published in (1) modern haiku 39:3, (3) presence 36 and (4) roadrunner (2007). (5) won 1st Prize Kusamakura 2008
замръзнало езеро рибите почукват по небето frozen lake fish keep knocking on the skyтопла вечер клоните на сухата топола – мрежа за звезди warm evening the poplar’s dry branches – fishing-net for starsпълнолуние сянката на котката се спуска по улука full moon the cat’s shadow is sliding down the gutterгъст сняг падна последният зъб на гребена ми heavy snow the last tooth of my comb fell offслънце… сянка… слънце още са млади крайпътните дървета sunshine… shadow… sunshine… the roadside trees are still so young
falling for the flame trick again . . . me & the mothShiva's Temple - a toddler chants along in baby talkChinatown morning - the vendor turns on the toy sparrowsafter the bang bits of paper & smoke . . . a bottle rocketarts & crafts . . . gone to hell in a handbasket i wove myself
First published in (1) Paper Wasp14:4 spring 2008;
(2) Modern Haiku 39.2 Summer 2008;
(3) Ko Vol. 22 No.10 Spring-Summer 2008;
(4/5) Wind Flow/ 2008 Anthology of the Boston Haiku Society.
rocky creek bottom - returning the worry stone I borrowed last yeardrinking sake until I'm ready for the blowfishcycling with my son - this is the autumn I fall behindrain drops changing the tone of river stonesstew season . . . the circle tightens around the cauldron
First published in (1) Magnapoets – Premiere Issue – January, 2008; (2) Frogpond Volume XXXI:1 – February, 2008; (3) The Heron's Nest VII:4 – 12, 2005; (4) Modern Haiku Volume 39.1 – Winter/Spring 2008; and (5) Magnapoets Issue 3: January, 2009.
thinness her eyelids as I close them (Frogpond 31.2, 2008)polka dots farther apart at the hips (Frogpond 30.1, 2007)withered chrysanthemum- the warmth of a tea cup (Frogpond 38.1, 2005)roofers next door their shadows work on my house (Bottle Rockets 8.1, 2006)hurricane evacuee scent of a borrowed shirt (Nisqually Delta Review 2.1, 2006)
прашинки в слънчевия лъч невидими до преди малкоmotes in the sunbeam – invisible a moment before (motes in the sunbeam, Plovdiv, 2007)snow again – how much my son’s footprints have grown!отново сняг – колко са пораснали стъпките на сина ми! (cricket song, Plovdiv, 2002)макове земята си припомня че има огнено сърцеpoppies the earth remembers its heart of fire (motes in the sunbeam, Plovdiv, 2007)sunflower field the sun rooted in the skyслънчогледова нива слънцето е пуснало корени в небето (motes in the sunbeam, Plovdiv, 2007)разделихме си луната – светлата половина за теб тъмната за менon my forehead you kiss the thoughts of you (cricket song, Plovdiv, 2002)
Autographs by Alex Skovron
Hybrid, 2008
Alex Skovron is a thoughtful poet, one who confronts the complexity of living in the 21st century with its burden of human history. Of Polish-Jewish background, Skovron emigrated with his family from Poland at the age of eight and arrived in Sydney via Israel in 1958. Autographs is Skovron's fifth collection and it arrives five years after his previous collection, The Man and the Map. His keen interest in the architecture of a collection gives us fifty-six interconnected poems in prose, organised into three sections: 'Dance', 'Labyrinth', and 'Shadow'.
