Tuesday poem: All hail the tip turkey
February 7, 2018
All hail the tip turkey
Tip turkey works through the plastic — a TROJAN
Tip turkey has no time for posing — he’s no STATUE
Tip Turkey is adorned with smears — a saucy TOMATO
Tip Turkey cries to the sky — frogs smoking CIGARETTES
Tip turkey smells unpleasant — but not more than homely TIP
Tip turkey fell from perfect grace — some may even call him SACRED
Tip turkey is no pink flamingo — no smiling lawn adorning TIP
Tip turkey is flung at the margins — discarded CIGARETTES
Tip turkey is letting himself go — bald seedy as TOMATO
Tip turkey follows reckless trash — a tributary STATUE
Tip turkey has no hidden surprise — he’s no TROJAN
Poet’s note: Tip turkey is a common name for Threskiornis moluccus, the Australian white ibis.
PS Cottier
The tip turkey came second in a recent poll of Australia’s favourite bird, beaten by a beak by the magpie. I voted for the budgie or the cockatoo; I can’t really remember. The idea of a ‘favourite bird’ is a bit silly, after all! This poem has been rummaging in the bins of my writing folder for ages, so I thought I’d share it.
The poem was originally called ‘But in the air they make such lovely arrows’ which explains the shape, but I thought it was a tad confusing. The tip turkey above was walking down a Canberra street like a particularly smelly ballet dancer.
UPDATE: The poem’s shape is lost on phone display. Sorry.
Tuesday poem: (Getting old)
January 29, 2018
Getting old —
I mix Laphroaig
with TISM
PS Cottier
If anyone isn’t familiar with TISM, here they are below at the Collingwood Town Hall. And yes, I found myself watching and listening to them while sipping a single malt and filling in my wee whisky book, which consists of meaningful comments such as ‘very nice’, ‘peaty!’ and ‘lovely’.
Once you know that Auchentoshan is not the sound of someone sneezing, it’s all downhill.
Vale Ursula K. Le Guin
January 24, 2018
A wonderful writer just passed away in Portland, Oregon. I’ll never forget puzzling over new views of gender in The Left Hand of Darkness when I was about 10; long before I heard the word ‘gender’. Ursula K. Le Guin introduced me to a disturbing and surprising new world.
Fantasy and many science fiction books seem to have been fed a diet of steroids recently. They seem to grow bigger with each year, as if strength and length were the same thing. But in her often compact books, Ursula K. Le Guin broke down the unnecessary and intellectually inexcusable divisions between ‘serious’ literature and speculative fiction, with thoughtful complexity and beautiful prose.
Her books will live on for a very long time.
Tuesday poem: Excalibur’s Lament
January 17, 2018
This one is via link. ‘Excalibur’s Lament’ is one of a number of poems on the theme Arthuriana, which is the title of the latest edition of Eye To The Telescope. Adele Gardner has edited this issue, and I am finding it fascinating to see how other poets approached re-telling, or re-imagining, the world of the round table.
Eye To The Telecope is an on-line journal of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, based in the USA, which has members in other countries. (Including at least one in the Grand Duchy of Canberra.) Scroll down to find my poem, and enjoy reading all the issue.
Tuesday poem: (Rubik’s soundcube)
January 9, 2018
Rubik’s soundcube
my dull lips and ears
can’t decipher
a glorious puzzle —
international students
PS Cottier
I was just thinking what a boring place Canberra would be without the ANU and other universities attracting so many international students, and this tanka was the result.
Looking forward to another year of posting on (most!) Tuesdays
