Tag Archives: poetry

Day 09 – sparkling + dires

I had an idea for today that I’d been contemplatively considering in the background for the past few days. In fact, by mid-afternoon, I’d finished a poem. A reasonably serviceable poem. That just didn’t do it for me. It didn’t work. It was too prosey or something. Too literal. Too didactic. Too first drifty. Decided to leave it for a couple of hours & revisit with a clear head.  Upon returning an hour ago I abandoned said previous draft & had this lovely simpler shape poem whipped off in about 20 minutes (chosen because I don’t normally do them, cos I think they’re a bit gimmicky; but after reading the always fabulous Jude Aquilina’s On a moon spiced night a couple of days ago, I realised if the content is right they can work).*

The Poetic Factoid was unexpected & chosen a result of about the second thing I saw on my news feed this morning.

*****

sparkling 

that snob 
who scoffed 
at bestsellers 
blithely mocked 
popular titles
just for being
too popular  
loudly claimed 
certain books 
were pure trash
& the readers 
of such books 
ignorant slobs
was me—once
i now
U
N
D
E
R
S
T
A
N
D
all reading is good if the book
makes the reader’s mind sparkle

*****

Day 09 – TIL the truth concerning dire predictions 

dire consequences

eagerly at my desk at 9am all ready to write 
any of the wrongs of the day that come my way

second webpage that pops up, the somewhat unpopular 
Game of Thrones guy George R.R. Martin announcing

— ie, he who began writing ASOIaF aka A Song of Ice and Fire
otherwise known as A Safari of Incest and Fighting

35 long summer-filled years ago but gave it up sometime
after cashing his fifth 10 million buck check from HBO —

that he’s contributed 1.5 million research dollars so he can hold 
the first dire wolf born in 10,000 years (cute pics at 6)

immediately I imagine all the ragetweets forthcoming:
“they re-invent dire wolves before you write the last book”

“he held a dire wolf before we held Winds of Winter”
“T-Rexes will chase SUVs on a rainy night before we see WoW”

& sure enough … #finishthefuckingbook




*I want to take a moment to acknowledge that the architecture for collectabilia: pet loves
from 3 days ago was also inspired by the way one of Jude’s poems was laid out.

[Street Fabric, 10; her visual poems Tree as Saviour 24 & Feet, 27]

Day 08 – why read + empathy

Today’s poem is an attempt at answering a question I get asked often (or variations thereof) — why do you read so much?  It’s a tough one because it seems pretty self-evident to me … but over the years I’ve jotted down various reasons & this poem attempts to pull them together into a cohesive form. It’s possibly still too long & requires an edit. I’ll see how it looks/feels in a couple of weeks’ time.

The Factoid concerns the correlation between empathy & reading fiction …

*****

why READ : an inexhaustive list

why do I breath : I mean : seriously 

cos I can’t not : compulsion

it’s : escape & refuge : adventureland & safe space : idyllic pasts & dystopian futures : a chance to ignore the dumpster fire that the world constantly seems like it wants to become : just for a few hours 

to get lost : lose time : time travel : to walk a mile : or warp the space time continuum : cause the real world to cease to exist : lose myself : in the wash & flow : of well told tale 

to let this : always overworked brain : go off leash
to glean answers for questions : I didn’t even know : I needed to ask
to explore the beauty : & darkness of humanity : to share a sacred indulgence
to understand myself : others : the world : to heal the wounds : to fill the lonely void of the universe’s vastness with a brief flicker of light

to experience : sustenance : catharsis : terror : joy : sadness : triumphs : heartbreaks : tears & sorrows

to share minds with : philosophers two thousand years dead : Caesars : physicists capable of explaining the universe : poets who explain the human heart : saints & sinners : & tanner’s sons from small market towns who change the world

because I can’t live every life I want to
because I can live lives I wouldn’t want to actually experience but enjoy experiencing 
because it’s fun being thrown into other universes : other time periods : other countries : other cities : other world views : other consciousnesses : other POVs : hell it’s even fun just to be thrown across the street : things look rather different from behind their curtains than mine

relax : after long tiring days
rejuvenate : on days when I have to do : nothing 

I love words
I love stories

I like who I am when I read
I like looking through mirrors & into windows 

I’m a loner who enjoys  solitude  silence  stillness : dreaming while awake

because the alternative : isn’t an option

*****

Day 08 Factoid – Reading fiction increases empathy

walking a mile in someone’s book

countless studies have shown:

folks who read fiction often
     have greater social cognition (work out what people think & feel)
     are better at measuring interpersonal sensitivity
     are more likely to help 
     can identify, understand, & share in someone else’s feelings
     behave more altruistically
     result in better doctors

so, to repeat 
     reading fiction is empathy-building
     so stop farking about here 
     go read a goddamn novel 
     & become a better person
     you numpty
                             (or words to that effect)

Day 07 – following your bliss + buying happiness

I have a bucket load of ideas I’d like to get to this month when it comes to books & reading. (Hmm, odd that.) Sometimes it’s hard to choose. Not today. This one grabbed me ideas brain & away we went. So, presenting one of the many ideas which explore the various dream/idyll lives I would live if I could.

The Factoid Poem addresses the very real & pressing question: does buying books make you happy?

*****

bliss following, version 1

If you follow your bliss you put yourself on a track that has been there all the while, waiting for you.
— Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

the bliss dream : or the first iteration of it at least : is to purchase a second hand : double decker bus : paint it Anne of the Gable green : ensure it is equipped with titanium grade shock-absorbers : & a highly powerful yet surprisingly fuel efficient engine : fit out the upstairs with comfortable living quarters : while downstairs : as many empty bespoke bookcases as can logically & logistically be arranged : then to spend a year : driving round Great Britain : (pleasant companion/co-driver optional) : visiting key literary hotspots : i’ve always wanted to experience : & : more importantly : slowly filling up those bookshelves : by popping in to every second-hand bookstore : i can get to : along the way : ending up in Hay-on-Wye : at the end of May : for their magnificent festival : by which time : my exhausted & overworked bus : will probably be so weighed down : with wonderful new acquisitions : i’ll need to park it in a field somewhere nearby : & proceed to read my way : through the lot

*****

Day 07 Factoid – Psychological Studies concerning buying books analysed in depth & detail

Can Buying Books Make You Happy? 
Psychology Says, Well, Duh!

this poem explores the psychology 
behind buying books 
                                    … & being happy

it’s well known that if you buy experiences 
not material objects the happiness 
hangs around lots longer

books are material objects
yet in opening them up & reading them
experiences are being experienced

Ipso facto sum — which is good

psychology also praises personality-guided-spending
that is: spend your money in accordance 
with your personality & you’ll be happy

ergo an introvert buys books = happy
avid reader buys some sort of icky old experience 
where they don’t have any time to read = not happy

Quid pro quo — which is also good

so what’s the conclusion 
of all this comprehensive analysis? 
yes. buying books does make you happy!

[i get that’s how this whole poem started 
but we had to do some rigorous sciencey things
to shut up all the negative nellie naysayers out there]

of course i must conclude with the caveat
too much of anything can be bad
// hang on, wait, what’s that? 

new research now claims
no such thing as too many books
(OMFG! what a relief!)

Dona eis requiem — which is all very good

Day 06 — collecting books + obsessions

Collecting is a strange thing. It’s sometimes hard to explain why one does it. For example, I like things to do with chickens. So I have prints, statues, sculptures, plates, even a pair of bookends featuring chooks.

So too with books. I have many diverse interests (more specific than just big genre-size categories: fantasy, science-fiction, historical, crime, or non-fiction like science [itself having many subcategories I collect: physics, the universe/astronomy, nature/biology, the elements, etc], history [WW1&2, British/Australian, Palestine/Israel, etc], politics, travel writing, & so on) or the work of specific favourite writers that I must own everything of theirs they write.

Sometimes I acquire small collections about topics I think I might one day write about. Thus I have numerous books about Gold, Winemaking, Christmas, Lighthouses, Chocolate, & so on.

But then there’s sets of books I’m simply compelled to buy. No matter how awful they might be. Even if I’ll never read them. Simply because they fall into one of my Pet Loves categories. They make up the matter for this poem.

The first quote that I saw upon googling for my Poetic Factoid broke me. I knew I couldn’t improve on it. Thus what you get today is pretty brief … but I hope I’ve been a little creative with its form.

*****

collectabilia: pet loves

Foxes, Wolves, Owls, Crows, Ravens
any book with these words
in the title must become mine 
   (several, several times)

Cornwall
sirensong, family ancestry, Famous Fivery
long ago looking at Land’s End in an atlas 
& wanting to watch the sun set over the sea there

Venice
love affair with a magical city
began long before i ever travelled there
spent more time in fictional Venice than La Serenissima herself

Heron
less common to come across these 
but treasure every quirky title concerning
my gangly soul spirit animal

Hare
love their wild solo madness 
many of these titles are delightfully illustrated
children’s books — which is okay by me

Booker winners
an ever growing bookcase 
chronologically filled with annual shortlistees
& winners — I’ve even read some of them

still there’s many more: Dogs, Dandelions, Bees, 
books on Eden Valley (not the one I live in
but the English one I’d like to live in)

to be honest — the list probably never ends 
just diverges into smaller 
& smaller subsets

of one

*****

Day 06 Factoid — Is book collecting is an obsession?

Jeanette Winterson wrote “Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.” Discuss. 

Ummm, 

what
               Jeannette
                                         said!

Day 05 – fierce creatures — in fiction & feathers

Today’s poem follows on from Lawrence’s maxim from a couple of days ago that it’s better to reread one book six times than six books once. Part of this month’s plan is I’d like to try & get a set of (at least 6) seminal books that’ve played an influential part in my reading journey. This is the first I’ve written (this month at least; drafts of others have been begun previously).

The legacy of this book is I love reading (now) mostly non-fiction/memoir style books of the natural world. A year in the fens, the life cycle of a wood, birdwatchingwatching, etc etc. Those type of books. Note: I’ve played with the layout so you’ll need to click on the image to enlarge the get the full effect.

Today’s poetic factoid was learnt when typing in the term “Australia’s fiercest animal”

Day 5 Factoid – fierce Australian animals

Swooper-dooper

when asked : our fiercest creature
most Aussies would say : it’s neither
crocodile nor shark : koala nor cassowary 

rather the common magpie who transforms :
from harmless hippie collective : singing hymns
round your house : to rabid riots of rage

to be fair : during spring’s
hormonal madness : male magpie’s
testicles enlarge up to 300%

so perhaps we should cut them some slack 

Day 04 – libraries II: mine + others

This is the idea I started (or rather) thought I was going to develop yesterday but that rapidly roared off into the Library of Alexandria. So I’ve come back to it today. And my oh my. If it isn’t a cracker. I’m very pleased with it.

Today’s Poetic Factoid was one I didn’t not have to google. It comes from the truthiness of my own life. Ignore it at your peril.

*****

The Once & Future Library

while i like : the idea : of libraries : there is only : one library : i’m really interested in : my own : my chaotic : sprawling across : 5 rooms, a hallway, a hut & multiple boxes in the shed : piles skyscraper stacked : replica forests upon tabletops : boxes under desks : beneath beds : double layered shelves : bookcases hiding behind bookcases : gloriously chaotic : idiosyncratic : once & future library : for what is the good : to me : of a book : in someone else’s collection : answer : there is none : of course : now some (mean-spirited : niggardly : unpleasantly nit-picky some) might counter : what is the good : of a book : in your collection : if you cannot find it : & while this argument : has merit : minute traces only : there are many wonderful acts : that can happen : while the search : for the holy tale : is undertaken : a book read many years ago : may be rediscovered : & rereading commenced : right there : where you stand : & time & place & purpose : is for a few moments : forgotten : superseded even : while you comprehend : transcend : ascend : a book : you forgot you ever bought : may come to light : exciting you : with your foresight : a book : you don’t remember : ever even seeing : before : may pop out to delight you : or frighten you : & sometimes : on those rare occasions : the actual book sought : may itself : be unearthed : & then : the satisfaction : of having your own : over-the-top : ridiculous : you’ll-never-read-all-those-books-if-you-live-to-be-a-1000 : one of a kind : here&now : once&future : libraries : suddenly makes : utter : perfect : sense

*****

Factoid Day 04 – borrowing books

Nor a lender be

Heads up.
If you lend me a book.
Chances are.
I will not.
Give it back to you.
I might say I will.
Often.
Repeatedly promising.
But. Listen up.
I. Will. Not.
You had your chance.
But you gave it up.

Except you Mike. Of course I’m bringing yours back.*





(*But I’m not. I’m really not. I appreciate the donation though.)

Day 03 – libraries: Alexandria + Congress

Poem about one of my very favourite things to daydream about…

*****

the Great Library

there’s a meme I love
you know you’re a book geek 
when you still get upset thinking about
the Library of Alexandria
& many are the times i’ve considered 
buying a t-shirt stating similar sentiments

there was another viral trend
first flagged a year or so ago
about how often men allegedly
thought about The Roman Empire 
(several times a week apparently)
but while i definitely enjoy daydreaming 
about both Ancient Rome & Athens
Alexandria remains my go-to contemplatory place

the Great Library of Alexandria 
shrouded in mystery, from its founding 
to its destruction a thousand years later
some say the massive, ancient library was
the single greatest accumulation 
perhaps 400,000 papyrus scrolls 
of human knowledge in history
up until that point

it burnt three times rather than 
one single conflagration
i) Caesar accidentally set fire to part of it
during his tête-à-tête with Pompey 
ii) several hundred years later a Christian 
Patriarch turned the Temple of Serapis 
into a church & repeated skirmishes
destroyed parts piecemeal   iii) & finally
Caliph Omar asserted the contents 
“either contradict the Koran, so they’re heresy, 
or they agree, so are superfluous” 
& thus the scrolls were used as tinder 
in the city’s bathhouses — supposedly taking 
six months for everything to burn away

it is this religious arrogance / ignorance
which most angers my bookdragon
for we’ll never know now what wisdom
we lost … what science was undone …
what stories forgotten … simply because 
zealots were too insecure in their own words
to allow contradictory ones to exist

*****

Factoid 3 – biggest modern library 

juxtaposition of red & blue

the Library of Congress 
in Washington, D.C.
is the world’s largest library

there are numerous interesting 
facts one could share about
this iconic institution 

— yet the thing I’m entertained by 
is the current irony involved in 
the juxtaposition of the words 

Library — & — Congress 

Day 2 – rereading + most read

Quite probably a topic I shall return to again & again …

five repeat offenders: re-reading

It is far, far better to read one book six times, at intervals, than to read six several books.
— D.H. Lawrence, Apocalypse

going back into the depths of time
Blyton survives despite mild dating dilemmas 
her Five will always be Famous

Anne of All the Different Idyllic 
19th Century Canadian Places*
glorious masterpieces all

for twenty years Tolkien was Christmas
holidays to me with repeated rereads
giving as much delight as presents under the tree

gosh, it’s getting hard down this end of the list
why did I set myself only 5 when 8 or a dozen 
would’ve enabled far more faves 

there’s newcomers like The Princess Bride
quirky Thursday Next, & Pullman’s Dark Materials
but I guess I must really mention oft-reread big guns

Austen outshines the Brontes; & Shakespeare, Dickens; 
earthy Lawrence over elegant F. Scott, & the Greek 
playwrights are repeatedly visited but all here are intimates

we are today overwhelmed with such quantities of books
but these are valuable as jewels, or a lovely picture, 
into which I can look deeper & deeper 

— & yet still have a profound experience every time

*****

Factoid 2 – best selling books

best sellers

several sites agree
on the three best-selling 
books in the world

the Holy Bible
the Harry Potter series 
Quotations from Chairman Mao

one i’ve read a couple of times
one at least seven
& one never

as Meatloaf semisang
two outta three ain’t bad

*yes I know they were written in the 20th century
but the first ones were set at the end of the 19th which sounds better so,
poetic license

Day 01 – firsts: reading + writing

April. Again. Therefore Na/GloPoWriMo 2025. It felt like it arrived with a rush. Today has been a week packed into a day already. But I’m looking forward to this year because … 

As in previous years I’m adopting a themes-based approach to Na/GloPoWriMo. And this year it’s something I should, by all rights, love doing since I’ve picked a theme I love, well, doing. My task is to write a reading or book-inspired poem every day. Happy is the man who makes his vocation his vacation & all that. Well, there we go. I’ve already written over a dozen reading/book inspired poems at intermittent stages in my life. So let’s make it official & see if we can get a chapbook out of it.

So the grist for this year’s mill will include: books, book memories, stories about books, lists of books, face books, book is revist often & some I’ve ben too scared too), fave reading quotes & fave book quotes (yes I keep a file of such things), book facts & reading stats, book covers, libraries, lending books, dream house plans which is basically any house with enough rooms to use 40 of them as libraries, book collecting, shopping for books, buying books, quirky topics I collect books on, disputes with parents on the number I books I own, and so on.

As previously II, since the project I have in mind may depend on the poems not being made public prior to their appearance I won’t necessarily be posting the entirety of each poem on my blog, but sometimes a [hopefully] tantalising snippet (many journals/comps/etc refuse to accept poems even if they’ve only been on personal Facebook pages or blogs with minimal subscribers). 

As a wonderful compensation for skimpy serious verse, I’ll be repeating my daily Poetic Factoid poem assignment from previous years — which if I’m honest — can produce better poems than the main event. Hahaha!

Day 1 – reading: act I

first memory reading 
hand written words 
on pieces of paper 
kept in toy box 
at grandparents’ house
sitting beneath 
dining room table 
under which 
we’d eat Christmas 
dinners for decades 
shuffling words 
into simple sentences 

— both acts forever imbued 
with everlasting magic 

*****

Factoid 1 – first known author

not Gilgamesh again

google tricked me today 
by answering who wrote the first book
not with the anticipated response  
the unknown author of Gilgamesh
but Enheduanna 
                             — a Mesopotamian 
high priestess of the moon (of course she is)
her name means “Ornament of Heaven”
author of 42 temple hymns, the myth
of Inanna & Ebih & 2 hymns to the love goddess
all composed three centuries prior to the Epic
& her name is known 
                                    — despite the anonymity 
of her contemporary poets’ works 
all of which pleases me greatly 
(aside from being forgotten today)
but nothing more than when 
                                                 — at the end of one hymn
she bitches about how difficult the creative process is

yep, writer’s block was a thing even back then

20,000 Days

At 6.55am this morning I started my 20,000th day on the planet as moi. Now almost 16 hours later it’s drawing to a close & I’ve spent much of it working on an idea to celebrate / commiserate

This is a poem in numbers. It’s not yet perfect. Nor I think complete. But parts of it are fun.

*formatting was a hellfire tonight but I learnt a little about coding (enough to bodge an almost fix at least)

*or so I thought, it turns out a dog’s breakfast on mobile devices. So please take the extra second & click on the PDF image which I’ve now attached which displays it perfectly & is zoomable*

*****

20,000 DaysDownload

20,000 days

~5000     days          asleep*
                                       [6 hours/night average]
833                            napping
219                             taking a pee 
                                        (200 of them in the last 
                                        5 years, so it feels)
15,618                        since entering Middlearth
15,319                        since the War began
12,134                        of Achtung Baby, baby
4329                          of blessed doggy healing

13,155     days           since the first date
12,716                        since that bloody Easter Sunday
1134                            with my soul mate
733                             engaged 
3                                  where life misc
                                            -arried
3                                where life veered off 
                                       in the saddest direction
100                             of official fatherhoodom (approximate)
12,650                       as de spiritus father

1584     days            with the beautiful Bee
~1000                        with the pixielike Gee
~the same                lost in the whirlwind of Eee
~another G               with all the other maybees
1030                            since the last (& final) heartbreak

~14,000                     single 
∞                                    over, then just, whelmed
                                        by grief 
too many days          in which i hurt someone
too many                  i made mistakes
                                      where i was an utter prat
at least half               where i tried to be better
at least half+1           where I did more good than harm (i hope)

10957      days         of Gunyah living / home base
7860                         of the Blue Wren Manor
110                               overseas
11,158                        living in rAdelaide
2342                         since i moved into Murray
100s                          in transition (that’s the theme)

1430        days         Artistic Director of a youth theatre
1155                          General Manager of a circus
50                             of opening nights 
3                                of book launches 
1                                 since my last gnt 

13975     days          blessed with all 4 grandparents alive
255                              since the last one died
45,874                       cursed on committees

~18,250 days          on which i read
~500                         where I read
                                           AND did not speak to another human
~872                          when i’ve been told
                                          i have too many books
maybe 3 or 4           times when this has been true
                                            these were packing & unpacking related
31                                most in row (since becoming an adult) 
                                            without buying a book
0                                  where i’ve held a book
                                             & it’s not brought me joy

20,000                   of always being a country boy