Entries by Jennifer Liston

It's day number 21. We're on the downhill slope towards day number 30 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).

This afternoon I attended a performance poetry workshop run by Mike Ladd, and of course that triggered today's little offering.

As always, it could probably do with hiding in the 'to be reviewed' drawer for a few months.

Virtuoso

Between the capital letter of my morning
and the full stop of my evening
occurred my day,
crafted from a library of truths and yesterdays
shaped by tomorrow's uncertainty
and finally
performed in surprise
like an intimate kiss with a stranger.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

It's day number 20 and I must be quite tired because today's poem is rather odd.

I don't know that I'd even call it a poem.

One of my fellow students, Josephine, posted a link to an article about a Ghost Nets exhibition.

I only glanced at the first few lines of it because the title had already taken me away in a completely different direction. I wrote this with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

As always, these productions are fresh from my head to pencil to screen but could do with being put into storage for a while to mature.

Ghost nets

are a serious issue for your average house phantom.
The last thing a busy ghost needs is to be bothered by the living.
Most ghosts are preoccupied with hauntings deadlines,
séance project management and implementation,
running the occasional poltergeist manifestation
and generally going about their supernatural business.
At the annual Ghost Net conference
troubled spectres present overhead transparencies
with graphs that illustrate how ghost net setting is on the increase
as the living tune in to the ghost population,
and propose methodologies for ghost net detection and safe disposal;
discussion panels and workshops are particularly popular.
A Ghost Net Tax was proposed:
this sparked a major protest
and led to Occupy Convents, Occupy Graveyards and Occupy Hotels
(they needed special permits for Occupy Churches).

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Here's my poem for day number 19 in my poem-a-day project for April.

I received Sydney Writers' Centre e-newsletter today and after reading the 'Weird Words' section, this poem prickled its way onto the page.


House of hedgehog

I love it when a word
springs off the page
and startles me,
grabbing my neck
with first and last syllables,
tightening its hold
with middle syllables,
then releasing me,
standing back, cheeky,
to inspect me.
I love it when a word
wants to be welcomed
into the lemon-scented home of my vocabulary,
paraded in front of other residents,
admired, tasted, heard.
I love it when a word
wants to mark its own terrain in my lexicon.
The word that did this to me today?
Erinaceous.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Today is day #18 in my poem-a-day extravaganza for April.

Over at Writers Digest (thanks to Mike Hopkins for the link) Robert Lee Brewer is offering a prompt each day for ideas for poems.

One suggestion was to write a 'mixed up' poem. This could be interpreted any way you want.

Here's where I went:


Trading places

If you were gazing at a blank page
while I was licking my bowl clean
what would you write?
If you doubted your own ability
while I dozed on my bed after a long walk
what would you do?
If you felt insecure
while I was gnawing a juicy marrow bone
how would you cope?
If you were wondering what was the point
while I was wagging my tail
what would you conclude?
If you asked yourself whether you could ever trust again,
while I waited for you to feed me,
what would you answer?

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Here's another poem as part of my poem-a-day effort for April.

I was inspired to write a Tanka by Mike Hopkins. A Tanka is a Japanese form of five lines structured with five, seven, five, seven and seven syllables respectively.

The subject matter was sparked by Robert's gorgeous photo for today, which you can see over here.


Tanka

Bug trawling gecko
you stick to the ribbed window
like glue, unmoving;
pale pink skin, legs splayed, feasting
at your local fast food joint.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

This week's rescued piece is from The true dynamics of life by Mike Robinson (p472) and The pleasure of finding things out by Richard P Feynman (p137).


The observed effect

Listen stillness figured
atomic healer
how arranged life then
human mass
spiritual machine
self-knowledge synthesised
principled pay-off seduces life forces
chemical copies
mysterious physics are forces exactly as I observe.
Violated hidden parasites
inspire silence.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

So we are on day #16: starting the second half of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).

I wrote this poem outside my local post office; that's the way it happens sometimes, they just arrive at the strangest moments and expect you to have a pen and paper ready to oblige. And I did.

Like all my daily poems it stands quivering, awaiting your judgement.

Poem for nothing

In the story
of the here and now
here is now
and now is here;
in now and again,
again,
is now
as is again;
in the here and there
is there,
and here
is there too;
in the story
of all or nothing
is all
and nothing
and all or nothing;
in the here and now
is all
is nothing
here
now,
just a story.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Day 15 and we're half-way through National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).

Today's poem is a short Sunday musing.

As always, it has just been born so it is still raw, unedited and shivering.

Chicken

We peck and squabble
too close for comfort,
our sensibilities, caged;
fear imprisons us.
Give our thoughts free range:
cross that road.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

This morning I was listening to a poetry podcast as I drove to a writing group meeting in the city. One of the presenters said something about imagining your house in a balloon (I can't remember the exact context now).

As soon as I came home I scribbled this poem. It could probably be extended, but this is it in its raw first draft.


Trip

A sugar pink balloon cocooned my house.
We took off at sunrise,
Dog looked up in surprise
for a moment from his bone,
wagged a question with his tail
as the ground beneath his paws and my feet
rocked gently;
I drank my tea
watched from my perch
on the yellow love seat
by the large bay window
as we floated over a waking city
drifted towards burnished hills;
bewildered swallows and seagulls
and a puzzled pelican flew by;
the earth receding
disappearing
as higher and higher we soared
through silky clouds
into lilac heavens
coasting on unmarked currents
wafting through uncharted spaces.
I sipped my tea, grown colder in thinning air.
Other candy-colour-cocooned houses
bobbed into view,
we glided around each other
describing a complex dance
of polka-dots in space.
Then Dog licked my face, and I got up to let him out.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Day 13 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) and it's time for another poem.


Friday the thirteenth

I do not believe today carries
the particular stench of bad luck.
Today, I wasn't expecting disasters to happen.
I'm not concerned about walking under ladders
or about black cats crossing my path.
I haven't lost sleep over that mirror I broke.
My good fortunes are not thanks to four-leaf clovers or horseshoes
although I never did find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If I believed in these beliefs I would be giving them the kiss of life.
So my food poisoning this morning was pure chance.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Look at that: we're up to day 12 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).

Please remember that these daily poems require plenty of editing - some more than others. I still grit my teeth when uploading them because of how rough and newborn they are.

Earlier today I skim-read a newsletter article about the importance of water coolers in the workplace for generating ideas. Today's poem just took complete control and I let it off.

What do you think?

Water cooler culture

Our need for water
draws us together,
reminiscent of tribal gatherings
at the river bank
or lake's edge.

We size up the new employee,
share weekend stories.
We discuss
the latest movies,
the best vintage clothes shops
the least expensive holidays
the tastiest recipes.
Fellowship develops.
We promise to do coffee, lunch, dinner,
we worry about health issues and the best hangover cure.
Ideas are shared.
We complain about bills,
the cost of child minding,
parking,
healthy food.

The water cooler
unfurls grapevine tendrils,
nourishes its gossipy stems;
we open up.

We grumble at how impossible it is to keep track of young ones nowadays
how difficult it is to find decent nursing homes for our elderly parents;
doesn’t your woman look like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth
and I bet he hasn’t seen the inside of a gym in years;
we hear about someone’s new baby: sleepless nights, ha ha.
We gasp at rumours of sackings,
snipe at promotions,
moan about yet another restructure
and confide that we’d leave home in a heartbeat
for George or Angelina or Hugh or Miranda.
Sometimes we notice knowing looks
and discover someone thought we were having an affair.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Day 11: I don't know why, but I really like the number 11. I see it everywhere; I like its symmetry, its simplicity, its binaryness (I can invent words if I like).

So here's a si11y poem in honour of the number 11.

And yes, there are 11 syllables in its title and each of its 11 lines.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments box.


A simple celebration of eleven

Eleven a.m. is time enough to wake
on Saturdays, cosy in bed, luxury:
no work, in perfect time for elevenses,
coffee, croissants, and other delicacies
ease me into the light, the day, the weekend;
you can keep your cricket first eleven team,
your eleven swans a-swimming at Christmas.
So what if ten plus one equals eleven
or if November is the eleventh month?
Big yahoo, eleven is a prime number.
Eleven a.m. wake-up call: now that's bliss.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

It's day 10 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).

I was somewhat ambitious today. I wanted to write an acrostic poem (one where the first letter of every line spells out a word or phrase). Then I was thinking about Oscar's Law (the campaign to abolish puppy factories) and how greedy some dog breeders are.

Suddenly the poem became an ode for Oscar, with a rhyming scheme of ABABCDCDE.

Of course if I had more time I would rework it thoroughly, but this is a poem-a-day exercise so you get to see my poem in all its early-draft glory.

Oscar's Law advocates: feel free to use this in your campaigns if it suits (with attribution, is all I ask).

Let me know what you think in the comments box. I'd love to hear from you.

Oscar's ode

Oh puppy factory bitches please know how
Sorry I am for what you’re going through
Churning out those puppies; (take a bow
All you greedy breeders, would that you
Rot in filthy cages, like your prey;)
Sad and outraged I am, how I wish
Lovely ones like you weren’t locked away
Awaiting certain death, a bitter dish:
(We humans have a lot to answer for.)

Older than we know, our lives entwined
Since ancient times dogs lived and worked with man
Co-existing, hunting, wits combined
And probably helped prehistoric clan
Ride out extinction threats; today’s dog stands
Socially perceptive, by our side
Loyal and true, obeying our commands
And we should be true masters, dignified
Without the need to exploit our best friend.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

This week's rescued piece is from Notebooks 1970-2003 by Murray Bail (p272) and Mind Lines by L Michael Hall and Bobby G Bodenhamer (p75).


Lines o' the mind

Fingerprint painting meaning-maker
imprisoning metaphors
in small boxes
in hollow palaces;
command your queen
to initiate distinctions,
to understand magic signals,
liberate meaning
from difficult reality,
walls of limitations
determine casual grandeur:
smell your reframing choices
enrich your own box of magic.

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Today my inner geek came out to play.

I decided to experiment with numerical structures and write a poem based on the mathematical Fibonacci series after I'd read about other writers doing this in the excellent book The Writing Experiment by Hazel Smith.

Each number in the Fibonacci series is the sum of the previous two, so it goes like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55... and so on.

I decided to apply the Fibonacci series to the number of syllables in each line. The first and second lines have one syllable, the third line has two, the fourth line has three and so on up to the seventh line, which has 13 syllables. Then I decreased it, so the eighth line has eight, the ninth line has five, etc.

And how numerically pleasing that the middle line of a 13-line piece has 13 syllables! You have to love the beautiful symmetry of maths (sometimes)!

Posted by Jennifer Liston