Had a big dose of family over the holidays? Think of it as writing material!
While I didn’t see my relatives this year, I spent time sorting through old photos and letters. One grandfather was handsome in the tiny black and whites as a WW1 flying ace in France. There is a portrait of him as a Colonel in charge of an airport in Africa during WW2. The other grandfather emigrated to the US from the Ukraine at age 12 and worked his way through law school. Two very different personalities and yet each sported a moustache and ended his days pinching the nurses and flirting. Scratch the surface of any family and you find a narrative.
Rainer Maria Rilke asserted that there are two inexhaustible sources for poetry: “dreams and childhood.”
I would suggest a third: the family. We all have them, relatives both near and distant, family myths and legends. Writing about these characters helps us to understand and feel compassion for their idiosyncrasies. Faint memories sharpen into focus and a new comprehension evolves.
Writing about my relatives has challenged my assumptions about them, especially when I try to write from their point of view. I notice each has left me with a message about life. My grandmother always noticed suffering in the world and suffered herself with cancer for many years. At her funeral, I heard her voice in my head saying, The suffering ends here. I took it to mean her suffering but also mine. I heard a woman say once, Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. This is what my grandmother’s life taught me, but how to show this in a 40 line poem?
My Russian grandfather dropped his bravado and masks and we genuinely met for the first time a day before he died. I realized all he ever wanted was love but he did everything to push it away.
The process of distilling these experiences into poetry has taken years. Each fresh draft emphasizes different aspects of a complex relationship. The poems begin as private and personal. I must find a way to use the particular to express the universal so they become public poems. It requires being an objective witness without letting my emotional bias through.
Poetry Prompt:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
What stories weren’t told in your family? What is your story to tell?
Think of a relative from your childhood. What did he or she smell like? What was his favorite food? How did this relative dress? Picture the person walking towards you. How did he/she move? Any distinctive mannerisms? What did his or her voice sound like? A favorite expression?
What gift did this person offer you? Just jot down images and associations. Let these steep in you until a refrain or line begins to open it as a poem.
I will be sharing a collection of my family portrait poems on Friday, the 10 of Feb. at Ewingsdale Hall at 7 pm.
I also invite you to join us for a 5 week workshop on writing family portraits commencing Friday the 17th of February from 9:30 -12:30 in New Brighton.
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“I am signaling you through the flames.
The North Pole is not where it used to be.
Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.
Civilization self-destructs. Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?” Lawrence Ferlinghetti from Poetry as Insurgent Art
We are approaching the long-heralded 2012 and what can we as poets and poetry lovers offer a world on tilt?
Here is what we did this year:
Dangerously Poetic kicked off 2011 with Rumble with the Spirit, mystical poetry to lift the heart, featuring Kathryn Riding and Elyjah Mcleod and the choir, Mystica. This was a benefit reading for the Queensland Flood Relief and we collected $613. for the fund .
And to further nurture the spirit, we offered the playshop, Day Spa for the Soul encouraging spontaneous expression through art, movement and writing.
We also initiated the Dangerously Poetic Writing Circle offered each month on the second Weds. at Wheel of Life in Brunswick Heads. This has become a popular gathering to stimulate new poems and fine tune ones that are already in process. At just $10/8 for members, it is affordable and a great opportunity to keep the poetry flowing.
Our next reading in Brunswick Heads was on the theme nature and our place in it— exploring our evolving relationship with a changing planet and we called it Mud between the toes. We invited garden club enthusiasts and members of local environmental groups to bring along a poem about nature that inspires and sustains them. Featured readers were Laura Jan Shore and Elvyn Dear. With both original tunes and standards, we enjoyed singer Shelly Hughes accompanied by Dan Brown.
There was an extended open reading on the theme, so many came forward to share their favourite poem.
Warm Winter Words was another benefit reading, this time for the Mullumbimby Soup Kitchen run by Kristina. We had a good line- up of music and poetry held at the St. John’s Catholic Hall.
Kristina provided hot soup and other treats for sale. The Hottentots and Chelle Lynton, Mark Heazlett and Cass and Elyjah all offered their beautiful music. Susan Hayward, Paul Pritchard, Mandy Morris, , Victor Marsh, Christo Barrett-Hall and Sundari were among the readers. Close to $2000 was raised in total for the soup kitchen!
We followed this with a one day retreat, Embracing The Wind, nourishing our connection to nature and our place in it. We relaxed into the sounds of nature, music, and beautiful words. And we enjoyed simple Qigong movement led by Bev Sweeney, with mindfulness moments and journaling. It was a time to sit in a nurturing circle— to breathe the earth. Inspired by this session were poems that were later submitted to our anthology which will be published in the new year.
Meanwhile, we applied for and received a grant from The Sidney Myer Fund for a tent to be used as a poetry chill out tent at the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival. Our vision which was to give poetry a bigger profile at the festival was well and truly manifested.
As there were no plans for a poetry competition this year at the festival, we asked if we could co-sponsor one with the NRWC. This was agreed upon and we received a full selection of poems on the theme of Spirit of Place, nature and our place in it. This coincides with our anthology theme and we offered to publish the winning poems in the upcoming anthology as well as offering a cash prize of $500 for first, and $250 for second. Robyn Rowland served as our judge.
At our poetry chill out tent, we provided an intimate space for poetry to flourish. One poet called it a “sanctuary” and another an “oasis”. The gentle music offered a welcome short break from words for many of the participants as well as the poets and writers who presented elsewhere.
We had many unexpected surprises. Poets stopped by and were eager to be slotted in for a half hour reading. Alison Wong, Teresa Bell, Robyn Rowland, Lorraine Marwood, and Libby Hathorn did half hour readings to audiences that ranged from 15 to 35.
At times, the tent was spilling out into the sun and other times were quiet. Many enjoyed the free shoulder massages, aromatherapy and a place to write passion poems. We put the winning poem on our site.
Most popular was our 3pm Open Reading each day and the quality of poetry read was refreshing.
We also ran a Sunday morning poetry reading. This attracted more people than we expected with all the competing events at those times. We had great feedback about The Songbirds and the chance for 3 festival poets, Susan Bradley Smith, Edwin Wilson and Robyn Rowland to read more extensively than elsewhere. Also our 2 award winners for the DP/BB Writers Festival prize were there to read their poems.
In November, Dangerously Poetic co-sponsored the launch of my book, Water over Stone, Interactive Press at the Primary school in Brunswick Heads. Sarah Armstrong did the launch speech. With guitarist Mark Heazlett, I did a performance of “Family Portrait Poems,” from the collection followed by a feast catered by Kristina.
In December, our Christmas Party reading featured three Interactive Press poets with new books, publisher David Reiter, Geoff Page and myself. The visiting poets served as judges for our popular poetry lamb. Ten contestants read their original poems and a winner chosen for a $50 prize. Again, Kristina outdid herself with delicious food and we toasted with champagne.
So what is next for 2012 which happens to be the 10th anniversary of the incorporation of Dangerously Poetic?
We have been finalizing the manuscript for our 10th book, Wild Honey, poetry from Byron Bay and Beyond, an anthology featuring 20 poets which we intend to launch by early March.
We hope to continue our process of meeting in different locations as we find it enables more people to come along and enjoy poetry. The popular DP Writing circle will continue in Brunswick Heads. More workshops and gatherings will undoubtedly be organized and more benefit performances as they are such fun and successful fund raisers.
We have certainly proved over this year that poetry can be a needed solace and of great benefit to the community in difficult times and good times. Our vision is to continue offering community experiences that nourish and uplift the spirit through poetry. Hope you will join us!
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My latest collection of poems, Water Over Stone, IP Press is about to be launched. As I read aloud to an audience, words I have wrestled with for years, I ponder the long process that took raw emotion and language and refined it into something I am at last ready to share.
For me, the genesis of a poem is intensely private. It begins as a pinch deep inside, like the pop of an egg and I know I am fertile. A poem wants to be born, but I don’t know anything about it yet. If I ignore the pinch, I find myself growing cranky and miserable. If I honour it with time for quiet contemplation, I am rewarded with an image, sound, or phrase that suggests the raw beginnings of a poetic form. These I incubate for a time, perhaps an hour, a week or months. The random lists of words or phrases or even a mood begins to coagulate. Often I have false starts. There is a point in every poem I write where I feel despair. I fear this poem will spontaneously abort. I am sitting in the chaos of creation without knowing how it will ever come into form.
Sometimes it comes as a trickle, sometimes a gush…
The secret of it all is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment — to get things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style — without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote — wrote, wrote . . . By writing in the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.
–Walt Whitman, “Walt Whitman’s Camden Conversations”
When the poem finally reaches the page in a form that feels solid, I am elated. This post-partum passion can last as long as a week. I am in love with my latest offspring and want to stay up all night just to watch it breathe! My urge is to show this precious creation to everyone I know. This is the quintessential poem and renders all earlier poems obsolete. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO MAKE THE POEM PUBLIC. I am not ready for any kind of criticism yet.
Finally, the cold winds of doubt arise. Will anyone understand my newborn? Now the inner poet gives room for the inner critic. If the inner critic is an ally, this is an important relationship. Now I am ready to re-examine the poem with fresh eyes. I can generally spot the obvious clichés and weaknesses like adverbs and adjectives or abstract words that don’t serve the poem. I can also email it to a few trusted poet friends for comment. I am ready to hear what isn’t working. I am prepared to prune back any self-indulgent phrases and to weave in missing links.
Again and again, I read the poem aloud, listening for clunky words or awkward phrases. The poem is still not ready to go public. I let it rest in a drawer for a few weeks and force myself not to re-read it until once again I can face it with fresh eyes. Usually, there are some minor changes at this point, but sometimes I turn the poem inside out and it becomes something quite different. I ask myself, What am I really trying to say?
The mind wraps itself around a poem. It is almost sensual, particularly if you work on a computer. You can turn the poem round and about and upside down, dancing with it a kind of bolero of two snakes twisting and coiling, until the poem has found its right and proper shape. –Marge Piercy
At last, I am ready to bring it out in public. I practice re-embodying the poem, connecting to the emotion that drives it. I practice in front of a trusted writing group or an encouraging crowd at a local poetry reading. Often just speaking the poem in front of strangers, reveals weak points I hadn’t noticed before. Some poems are easily accessible when performed. Others work best on the page.
More changes are made. A comma moved, a shift of line break. Printed out, the poem is ready to go off into the world. It is submitted to a literary magazine or a contest and forgotten.
Call me fickle, but response can take many months. I am fully engaged in other poems, my latest darlings. If the word eventually comes back, that the poem will see print, there is a curious anti-climax. The poem no longer belongs to me, but to the reading public. I look at it in the magazine and feel surprise.
Could this be my baby?
Collecting these poems into a manuscript is the next step. They change subtly as they are placed side by side with others. When the book appears and I hear the feedback from readers, once again I am surprised. Readers often see links I never thought of and make assumptions that every part of a poem is true and about me. Many choices are made even in autobiographical poems to distil and conflate for the sake of the poem. Some are purely fiction.
At last, the book launch and a more extended performance where I continue to discover new things about my own poems. It is a relationship that grows and changes as I do.
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Dangerously Poetic brought our poetry “wish list” to Candy at the Northern Rivers Writers Centre back in January based on our experience of the past 15 Byron Bay Writers festivals. It was amply fulfilled. We applied for and received a grant from The Sidney Meyer Foundation to pay for a tent and musicians as we have found the marriage of music and poetry important to its enjoyment.
The Poetry Chill Out tent offered what we dreamed it might, an intimate space for poetry to flourish. One poet called it a “sanctuary” and another an “oasis”. Featuring guitarist, Robert Ood on Friday, flutist Paul Kimmel on Saturday and guitarist David Ackerman on Sunday, the gentle live music offered a welcome short break from words for many of the participants as well as the poets and writers who presented elsewhere.
We had many unexpected surprises. Poets stopped by and were eager to be slotted in for a half hour reading. Alison Wong, Teresa Bell, Robyn Rowland, Lorraine Marwood, and Libby Hathorn each did half hour readings to audiences that ranged from 15 to 35. One highlight was Teresa Bell’s impromptu decision to launch her book from the tent instead of the launching pad as she preferred the cozy ambience.
At times, the tent was spilling out into the sun and other times were quiet. It was a pity the Chill Out tent wasn’t in the program as many found it difficult to find us. However, we printed flyers and handed out as many as we could which brought people in.
Many enjoyed the free shoulder massages, aromatherapy and a place to write passion poems. The winning passion poem, haiku by Angela Helen Smith, captures the mood.
in the tent
passionate voices
canvas flapping
Most popular was our 3pm Open Reading each day and the quality of poetry read was refreshing. We encouraged visitors to the Chill tent to attend Saturday night and many who had stopped by were there at the theatre. The Sat night event was fun and different and touched many new to poetry events.
Sunday morning we offered our session at the Performance Tent, A Passion For Nature. This attracted more people than expected with all the competing events at those times. There was great feedback about The Songbirds led by Alison Mackay. The chance for 3 festival poets, Susan Bradley Smith, Edwin Wilson and Robyn Rowland to read more extensively than elsewhere was much appreciated. Also our 2 award winners for the DP/BB Writers Festival prize were there to read their poems. Our time was a bit short so they were rushed which was too bad but they were good sports about it.
All in all, our vision which was to give poetry a bigger profile at the festival was well and truly manifested.
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“Life is more than just increasing its speed.” M. Ghandi
Why do we so rarely give ourselves permission to slow down?
Twelve of us pondered this after sharing a one day retreat, Embracing the Wind, facilitated by Bev Sweeney and myself. Some spoke of their initial hesitation to spend a day in silence. The preference was to socialize at least during lunch.
But we discovered the deep bonding that occurs with shared silence. Practicing chi gung together, led by Bev, we dropped into a quiet flow. Music and poetry eased us deeper. We experimented with a walking meditation, aware of each footstep and how it blesses the earth. Walking slower and then slower still was delicious.
The day encouraged a heightened awareness to sniff the flowers, listen to the birds and really taste the sweet, sour, bitter, and salty nuances of our food. We discovered gifts in nature, metaphors with private messages for us. We revelled in the wonder of our own breath, the throb of our own hearts.
Bev shared a bit of chi gung wisdom with us that really struck home. She said to give it not 110%, not 100% but 70%, holding back that 30%. A gentle movement with energy to spare. For many of us, raised to push past our limits, to rush and battle with life, this was a revelation. Being tender with ourselves is a rare and important lesson.
I had just heard of some young mothers who were complaining about all the driving they did for their kids after school, off to dance class, to soccer, to piano lessons. One mother originally from West Africa said nothing until she was pressed. What do your children do after school?
I make them lie down on the lawn every day for a half hour to stare at the clouds.
For a poem on the subject of Pause, click here.
Enjoy the clouds!
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Fog hides the mountains as a wafer of winter sun gilds the valley. I have just returned from a retreat in the Glasshouse mountains, rested and re-inspired to walk my poetry. Being away from the computer was a great relief except when I was revising lines of poetry. I had to fall back on an earlier habit of taking the lines with me as I walked and repeating them aloud with each step. It soon became obvious where the clunky rhythms were. Where the poem speeds up, I would quicken my pace. Repeating the words as I walked, I noticed changes I was intuitively making. Weak points were suddenly obvious. The poem evolved and I delighted in the wild ducks and black swans, the changing hues of the mountains as the day progressed.
When I walk alert to poetic possibilities, I notice so much more. With my notebook handy, I jot down images, smells, tastes, textures, sounds. These may not weave into anything immediately but later when I reread my notes, I often find connections that gradually to grow into a poem. Away from my desk, touched by nature all my senses are heightened. When poetic lines arise, my experience can be shared and expanded. A day spent walking in nature with my poetry is one of deep joy.
If you want to walk with your poetry, enjoying stillness and the power of the circle, please join us for
Embracing the Wind, nourishing our connection to nature and our place in it. Relax into the sounds of the sea, the bush, music and beautiful words. Enjoy simple Qigong movements, mindfulness moments , journaling. A time for silence, a time for sharing.
This one day retreat from 9:30-3 pm will be held in Brunswick Heads on Friday, the 22nd of July. Early bird discount ends Weds! Click here for more details.
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I have attended every Byron Bay Writers’ Festival ( this year August 5-7) since the first intimate one in 1997. Each year I delight in the opportunity to hear a wide variety of authors on a myriad of subjects. Poetry being my first love, I make it a point to go to all the poetry night events, master classes and other poetry options. I’ve thrilled to hear some of the finest Australian and visiting poets over those 14 years. But not surprisingly, poetry at the festival seemed eclipsed by the big name musicians, politicians, actors and other celebrity speakers. For me, there was never enough poetry.
This year Dangerously Poetic made our usual wish list and above all wanted to raise the profile of poetry at the festival. We spoke with Candy, the new director and she encouraged us to pursue a grant for a poetry chill-out tent. We were successful and received monies from The Sidney Myer Fund so we could have an intimate space for readings and live chill out music for the whole three days of the festival.
We also are co-sponsoring the Dangerously Poetic Byron Writers Festival Poetry Prize. This will be awarded at a 2 hour poetry reading session in the performance tent on Sunday. This event will showcase many of the remarkable poets invited to the festival interspersed by live music.
In addition to these events, a poetry night on Friday and on Saturday, a special performance, Poetry of Passion with Kamal will be offered. In short, it will be a mini-poetry festival within the larger festival and should satisfy even the most dedicated poetry lovers.
Early Bird tickets are still available. Don’t miss out on this festival of poetry… See you there!
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I am delighted to announce that Dangerously Poetic is co-sponsoring the Dangerously Poetic Byron Bay Writer’s festival poetry competition this year! Poetry is set to have a larger profile at the festival and Dangerously Poetic will have a marquee dedicated to A Passion for Poetry. We will also host a 2 hour poetry reading on the Sunday where the judge, Robyn Rowland, will announce the prize winners and they will have the opportunity to read their winning poems.
This national poetry prize will be awarded at the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival 2011 on Sunday, the 7th of August.
Poets are invited to write up to 40 lines on the theme- A Passion for Nature and our place in it.
Judge: Dr. Robyn Rowland AO
First Prize : $500, a 3 day pass to the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival 2011, publication in Dangerously Poetic’s upcoming anthology ( projected launch date 2/2012), a free copy of the anthology and chance to read the poem at the festival.
Second Prize : $ 100, a 3 day pass to Byron Bay Writer’s Festival 2011, publication in DP’s upcoming anthology ( as above.)
• Entry fee: $10 first poem, $5 for each additional
• Poems will be no longer than 40 lines, single spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt.
• Poems shall not have won a competition, been previously published or under consideration elsewhere. Winning poems must be available for publication in anthology.
• Closing date is 15th June, 2011. All poems must be received by this date to be considered.
• No author name on poem.
• Please enclose 2 copies of each poem plus one entry form or email poems and entry form as .doc attachments to bev_sweeney@yahoo.com.au
• No poem will be returned, no communication will be entered into.
• Judge’s notes and final results will be posted on www.dangerouslypoetic.com
Good Luck!
Download the entry form:
Pay for your entry here:
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Write every day, without hope and without despair. Isak Dinesin
The goal is : words on the page, but if the inner critic or what’s worse for me, the inner pusher surfaces then the words are freighted with hope and despair, usually at the same time! That’s when I write faster, trying to outpace the critical voices. I find writing is like inertia. It takes a while to get a flow happening and then it is equally difficult to stop. Often the first few pages of words are just a warm up and won’t yield anything polished. But that warm up is essential to get to the real writing.
Like warming up at the gym, the inertia can make those first pen strokes as difficult as pumping weights. I remind myself that I will feel much happier if I push through. I recall that creative high when images arise and a sense of focus begins to fall into place. When I finally push through that despair, suddenly my pen is skimming along. From the spillage, I might find a few lines that serve as an armature for a poem or a metaphor helps me to refine what I want to say. Robert Frost said that people who don’t understand metaphors are a danger to society! The ability to find connections between two disparate things and express this through an extended metaphor expands our perceptions.
The best way I know to keep writing is to be part of a support circle of other writers. These trusted friends can give feedback and encouragement. Above all, the deadline of having a piece ready for the writing circle fires me to keep writing and polishing. That’s why Dangerously Poetic decided to offer a monthly poetry circle every 2nd Weds. at the Wheel of Life in Brunswick Heads at 1 pm.
If you are in the area, come along and join us.
PS If you haven’t had a response when contacting us through the site, please try again. We think the problem has been solved.
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I know the truth!—give up all other truths!
So proclaims a 23 year old Russian poet in 1915. These lines have haunted me for 25 years. Like a wake-up call— when ever I hear myself being prescriptive or didactic, I hear them echo.
Absolute statements are always of the ego. See, there I go again, as if I know the truth!
She goes on to say; No need for people anywhere on earth to struggle.
Written early in the first World War, it was prophetic and timeless in its searing irony.
Look— it is evening, look, it is nearly night.
what do you speak of, poets, lovers, generals?
The poet was Marina Tsvetaeva* and although she went on to write many wonderful poems, this early one is most anthologised. * (Selected Poems, Marina Tsvetaeva translated by Elaine Feinstein)
Just like a song can get stuck playing in our minds, a poem can lodge there, popping up like a mantra at unexpected moments. This simple poem written by such a young woman reveals layers of wisdom as I recite it over and over.
The wind is level now, the earth is wet with dew,
the storm of stars in the sky will turn to quiet.
And soon all of us will sleep under the earth, we
who never let each other sleep above it.
When I memorize part or all of a beloved poem, it becomes absorbed into my bloodstream and beats with my heart. It expands my perception and heightens my experience of the world.
Memorizing a poem can be a wonderful meditation. I learn it line by line, repeating them as I fall asleep and when I wake. In a stressful situation, like waiting in traffic and late for an appointment, I start repeating the poem. This distracts and soothes me.
Learning them so intimately teaches me more about how to write a poem than any instruction manual. When I forget a word or part of a line, I realize how critical each word is to form the whole. I can see the craftsmanship and perfection.
A great activity while travelling on summer holiday—bring along a favourite poem to internalise and make your own. At Dangerously Poetic readings, we encourage poetry lovers to recite a favourite poem during the open mike section. When someone is passionate enough about a poem to commit it to memory, the audience feels this and is enthralled.
I once heard American poet, Galway Kinnell say, If a poem is worth writing, its worth memorizing. Audience members call out names of his vast collection of work and he can reel off the poem by heart. I find memorizing my own poetry revealing. It becomes clear if lines are weak. Also, I often discover another layer to what I was trying to say. To memorize my own poem, I must fall in love with it all over again— like I did when it was first conceived. I must claim it and own it with every breath.
Check out our 10th December— Day retreat‑ Embracing the Wind.
Have a peaceful, easy summer !
Laura
PS- Stuck for a Christmas gift, try poetry!
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