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

Day 18 — a whispered love letter + piles of books

Pretty self-explanatory: a pseudo-letterpome.

whisper

dearest love : though : you : cannot hear me : nor feel me neither : (i fear) : i’m only a little : behind you : close enough to reach : out : to clasp your hand : if i could : (if i was allowed) : if the sensation : of my white hand : passing through yours : did not eerie me out : so i silently : wait : stepping softly : behind you : (waiting, hoping ) : for day light : to appear : (perhaps) : for you : not to despair

Day 18 – TIL about my relationship with books

Tsundoku

the joyful gleeful wonderful
act of acquiring books
& not reading them

… yet …

i’m a tsundoku sensei
believing there’s always tomorrow
& failing that — next life

Day 28 – white magick cleansing

A more playful poem than some this month, because after all, I do still have my sense of humour.

*****

deep cleansing the past month

week 1: a necessary exorcise of Her

my friend Charlotte convinced
that to provide clarity & clear
the psychic air around me i must
exorcise Her negative energy
from my home head & heart

together we assemble two strands
of black hair & one of henna;
a handwritten letter; & the sole gift
i ever got (a clue in itself she whispers)
a copy of Her favourite book

i must burn them at midnight
of a new moon ie tonight
i’m tired i tell her & it’s cold out
she’s long gone when i sacrifice
Her meagre possessions to flame

— it makes no difference

.

week 2: Spell for Aura and Energy Flow

disappointed but not deterred
Charlotte has lent me her
White Spells for Modern Wiccans
with multiple pages marked

turning to the first post-it note
her neat handwriting declares: this spell
is perfect for purifying one’s aura
or the energy flow between two people

things i need

bundle dry sage
“loaded” white candle
a feather (purified)
photo of each of us

having none of these items
Charlotte swiftly visits
& watches as i perform
the spell under her steely gaze

i. put candle & sage
on a silver platter
with the two photos

ii. light candle
burn sage carefully
creating smokeless smoke

iii. with the feather
sweep smoke towards
the outside of the house

— it makes no difference

.

week 3: Enchantment to ward negative energy from the home

on a waning moon day
peel & quarter an onion
form in a cross on a white plate
in front of a brown candle
light the candle, chanting

Creature of fire
Bringer of tears
Hear my desire
Banish my fears

Power of three
Set this home free
Cleanse it today
Long may it stay

travelling counterclockwise
walk through the house

saucer in left hand, candle in right
turn three times clockwise in every room

leave the onion & candle in the kitchen
until it’s completely burnt down

then throw the wax on your lawn
& bury the onion far from home

— it makes no difference

week 4: spell of my own devising

go into the garden
pluck five sprigs of fresh mint
return inside
heat some water
(from the tap is fine)

tear the leaves
from the stalks
& drop in a mug
pour hot water over
breathe in deeply

pop your patio chair
in a patch of warm
autumn sunshine
but take a rug too
cos there are clouds above

sigh loudly after sipping
open the given book
(course i didn’t burn it
i’m no monster)
lose yourself in reading

— it doesn’t fix everything
but it makes a small difference

Day 25 — big dates raise big issues

As always, Anzac Day is highly conflicted for me. I had two grandfathers who served in WW2 in North Africa, the Middle East & Papua New Guinea & who thankfully both came home. I had a great grandfather & a great great uncle who fought in the trenches of France & one came home & one did not. I had another great grandfather who served with the Light Horse in Egypt & Palestine. He also came home. So the Anzac mythos is strong on both sides of my family. It is personal. However, at the same time, I find much of Anzac Day tokenistic* & backward-looking. See below for my reasoning.

*Though there is something very communal & positive about the #AnzacAtHome & #DrivewayAtDawn movement as a result of COVID-19 which I like immensely. Perhaps this could be one of the ways forward, followed by street parties all over the country.

*****

the Anzac spirit

beware: today’s the day you’re most
likely to catch Anzacspiritus flu
an insidious disease that claims men
fighting on Gallipoli beaches
& trenches of the Western front
somehow forged our young nation’s
nature with five distinctive qualities:
mateship, humour, courage,
ingenuity, & endurance.

my perennial question —
how 256,000 men who rarely
spoke of their experiences
influenced the entirity of Australian
society’s then five millions
remains unanswered.

that said, i don’t begrudge a nation
built on these tenets
they’re a reasonable list — though
you wonder if they’re not in fact
lacking somewhat. maybe: compassion,
cooperation, freedom, security & equity
could be added.

but instead of simply praising them
this one day of the year
let’s actually live by them.

there wasn’t much mateship going round
when toilet paper was being hoarded
& supermarket shelves stripped;
nor courage when it came to attacking
fellow citizens simply because they look
like where our current virus is from.
thankfully though our GSOH
has been highly evident through countless
memes, TP workout routines, etc.

my request is — if any politician
from the Prime Minister down
to your local council member
wants to cash in on the gungho glory
of Anzac then they need to spread
those five+ tenets to every decision
they make throughout the year.

let’s start using our brave, heroic,
foolish, flawed Diggers never ending
sacrifices to heal, to look forward,
instead of always behind …

Day 24 — doing one’s bit in trying times #notallheroes

A smaller more personal poem today, after the excesses of yesterday.

*****

peak pandemic

how perfectly pleasant
to sit inside rug on lap
book in hand tea by side
warm as butter slowly
melting into hot crumpets
dog snoring nearby

while outside trees writhe
in the window-rattling
thunder-spreading wind
the sky grey in all ways
& the rain hits the roof
like a million microscopic
viruses trying to breach
my home’s defences

all while knowing

i’m
helping
save
the
world

life has reached peak

Note: I’m borderline embarrassed to admit (but not quite really) that I almost spent more time looking at images of cups of tea next to books by rainy windows than I did writing the poem. OMG I’ve discovered a new way (as if one was needed) to waste valuable interwebs time.

Day 27 – intertextuality (& instagram)

Yet another poem about the joys of reading — which took on a life of its own. And even though the last line might be a wee bit much, I still love it.

*****

intertextuality

a startling line of text hooks me sideways
from ancient sword & sorcery Cimmeria
arcing me skywards, belly to the sun;
into other stories, real world experiences
& perfumes, already lodged in synapses flash
light silver-gilt sparkles quivering
from networked neural nest to another;
whirlpooled into the closeted green
dirty underwater of the Black Forest
where we each tread our paths on the way
to Red’s Grandma’s little log cabin.
breathing heavily behind a tree, see her skip
basket-swinging foolish innocence knock
of knuckle on the old crone’s red door

— but miss what happens next when a tap
on my shoulder reveals one angry looking
wolfskin-wearing weapon-wielding woodsman
…………
…………

…………
…………
BONUS POEM: April 27, 2018

Self explanatory.
NOTE: 2019 edit. Various minor tweakings & enjambments to improve the pome.

*****

#nofilter

despite gut-dropping
disappointment upon discovering
every shot of the castle
I’d ever seen had been
carefully crafted to crop
………………………………………… out
all neighbouring car parks,
camper vans, hotels, the town,
tour buses, & souvenir shops
I’m relieved to realise I need
not set an Instagram filter
on the sublime Andrews-esque
middle-earth mountains
……………………………………………beyond

Day 23 – swans (& folios)

Again, working on a longer poem today. Knew an hour ago I wouldn’t finish in time, so started a new one. Coming to understand, NaPoWriMo is less about the poems you finish this month — and more about the poems you’ve long wanted to start and will finish next month.

*****

Will never end

Will you forever be
the quintessential
enigma-wrapped-
conundrum-encased-
paradox-generator?
or will your secrets
one day unfurl?
a swan ascending
from the mute stream.
so many want so much
from your cursed bones;
but so little remains
& it’s oh so easy
to fabricate tales
to suit our own
desperate desires

BONUS POEM: April 23, 2018

Unresolved & unfinished I think, but the others I wrote today don’t fit …

*****

First Folio

all this fuss
over a book
plenty of books
have existed
& been lost
& the world
continues on

at once
a little richer
& a little poorer
for having existed
yet been lost
which is which
you must determine

Day 23 – swans (& folios)

*****

Will never end

BONUS POEM: April 23, 2018

Unresolved & unfinished I think, but the others I wrote today don’t fit …

*****

First Folio

all this fuss
over a book
plenty of books
have existed
& been lost
& the world
continues on

at once
a little richer
& a little poorer
for having existed
yet been lost
which is which
you must determine

Day 11 – intertextuality (& introspection)

Book Club selection this week was Water for Elephants.

*****

big top potpourri

granted Water for Elephants
has been read before
but the deja vu familiarity blends
into The Night Circus, Cirque du Freak
numerous history of circus books
from when I was researching
my play The Menagerie of Broken Flowers
(later renamed Ugliophobia)
countless kids books by Enid,
others starring Paddington, Olivia, etc;

dozens of celluloid iterations
The Greatest Show on Earth,
Marx Brothers, Freaks, Elvis
probably worked at one in
the mid-60’s, a misunderstood
troublemaker; U2’s dreamlike video
to All I Want Is You; even Dumbo ;
& of course the exquisitely surreal
dustbowl drama Carnivale.
Plus: managing a kids circus;
working for Cirque du Soleil;
meeting many of Australia’s
talented carnies & contemporary
circus artists

means the words & situations
all blur together to fabricate
a simulacrum of surely every
eternal childhood dream

BONUS POEM: April 11, 2018

Final David-inspired pome (for now?).

*****

marble thoughts

schoolgirl groups
giggle, turn away
countless digital zooms
capture closeups
of my junk

others slide out
the extensions
on their ubiquitous
selfie sticks
pretend to balance
me on their palms
or once again
point how small
my tinkle is
(won’t even deign
to mention how cold
his studio was in winter)

some do little more
than click & walk on
one more cultural
checkpoint ticked off
the list

a few of these awful
smartPhone snaps
are even well framed

miss the days
people
actually looked

gareth roi poet boi

gareth roi's playful poetry place

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Tag Archives: reading

Day 2 – rereading + most read

Day 01 – firsts: reading + writing

Day 18 — a whispered love letter + piles of books

Day 28 – white magick cleansing

Day 27 – intertextuality (& instagram)

Day 23 – swans (& folios)

Day 23 – swans (& folios)

Day 11 – intertextuality (& introspection)

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