word in hand april - jess cook

Help

So I have been really slack in the last few months about this site. People come up to me @ poetry gigs and say things like: "You are doing a valiant service for the community" but I can't be bothered with doing all the updating and cajoling poetry out of recalcitrant writers. Does anyone fancy giving me a hand? If so, drop me a line.

soiree poetique - 21 jan

wordinhand

Live Poets - Nov 28th

Live Poets at Don Bank will wrap up for 2007 with man of letters David Brooks reading from Urban Elegies and 'unplugged rocker' Wayne Gillespie kicking out the jams from his album: Live at the Bunker and more.

As usual there's an Open Section.Doors open 7.30 at Don Bank, 6 Napier St North Sydney. $7 entry includes supper and drinks.Further info: Danny Gardner 9896 6956 or dannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au

3 wishes - bhupen thakker

I met Bhupen wowing the crowds in Parramatta last week. More of his work can be found here.

3 Wishes - Bhupen Thakker

She maybe dying
She is 31
White is turning gold
Gold is turning purple
Purple is turning gold
Gold is pink
Pink is navy blue
Navy blue is turning indigo blue
Indigo blue is light blue
Light blue is turning green
Green is turning yellow
Yellow is turning orange
Orange is turning red
Orange is red

a 60 year old man with a beautiful 4 year old boy enter the room
sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa
The man says
Royal red
The boy sits on the ground
Endless orange
The boy touches the woman
Compassionate yellow
The boy picks up a toy
The first green reason
The boy smiles
Light blue fountain
The boy continues to hum
Sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa
Strong indigo blue
The boy puts his ear to the heart machine
Navy blue now
The boy touches the woman’s head
Infinite pink
The boy touches the woman's forehead
Gold purple gold white stillness
Sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa

The boy touches the woman’s eyes
The woman smiles a white smile
Royal white
Endless white
Compassionate white
The first white reason
White fountain
Strong white
White now
Infinite white
Brilliant white
Sparkling white
White strength
The boy dances
The man dances
The boy asks the woman for 3 wishes
The woman smiles
sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa



Photo source: Glen's Pics

The Bard and I

Is Shakespeare still hot? Decide after you participate in this lively late spring celebration of the Bard and contemporary poetry.

Sydney poets will recite Shakespeare and their own work in our cosmopolitan languages.Come and share your favourite soliloquy or sonnet, relate your first experience of the Bard or read your own poem. What you will, as you like it.

7pm Sat 17th November

Rudolf Steiner House, 307 Sussex St, Sydney

Cosmopolitan Sydney in Conversation

Enquiries: 02 9484 3392 Entry: $5

The Bard and I is convened by Ten Ch'in Ü (the editor and independent publisher of the anthology Mood Lightning with over 80 contributors, mostly from Sydney, which won the Wild and Woolley Prize for Best Poetry 2005).

scream

WordinHand - Tuesday 6th Nov

Your Poetry

This site isn't just an events calendar. We want your poetry. Short & sweet (less than 20 lines is good, less than 10 is better). If you have images & links that relate to your then send those too. We can't give you money but we can share the lurve. We will also "publish" mp3 recording of poetry (with or without music).

Our email is here: sydneypoetryblog@gmail.com and our eyes & ears are open.

life of hair - kurt johnson

Life of hair - Kurt Johnson

We die in the corner of a room,
Sucked into our tomb of felt walls,
To the grey basalt of the moon
Tangled in a ball with our brothers,
Sucked into our tomb of felt walls,
From lives spent mid notes on a desk,
Tangled in a ball with our brothers,
At the end we all start to fray,
From lives spent mid notes on a desk,
Born as blonde chutes from the earth,
At the end we all start to fray,
Uprooted by a tense hand of god,
From lives spent mid notes on a desk,
To the grey basalt of the moon,
Uprooted by a tense hand of god,
We die in the corner of a room.

Image Source: charlietyack

forty - peter coghill

Peter can often be found at PULP's Sappho Books night where his height tests the flexibility of the mic stand and his poems charm.

Forty - Peter Coghill

I would walk forward in circles,
in a waltz, to savour side
and backward views; I would
have eyes in unlikely places
and ears for forgotten songs.
I would walk spinningly,
a tourist, with hanging mouth,
round the ruins of my youth.


Image source: maproomsystems

to r.i.p - onur karaozbek

Onur "Ka" Karaozbek is a great performer and has generously provided this item for the poetry blog - and also the photograph below...

To R.I.P

City streets packed, every step a new person
But none looks back at me
Even I gaze and I stare,
Even I smile and I greet
Later that day hours of grid lock
Screaming men, screaming women
But no one screams at me
After I swerve on the old lady driving a Volvo,
After I crash in to the bus full of kids
At night no one is around
The light from the corner shop is humming
Birds flying away, ignoring me,
When I scatter around packs of seeds
When I scatter around packs of seeds
I keep going, I want to be seen
To be known, to be felt, to be understood
To be to be to be to be to… behind the tree a girl is sitting
Which I offer a ride
But she looks right through me
Even I am right in her face
Even I am right in her face
Then the 17 days of rain
I am as dry as one can be
Not even a drop hit my face
While I kept looking up to see them fall down,
While I kept watching them feed the ground
Feed the ground that I stand on
Feed the ground that I sit on
Feed the ground that I lie on
Feed the ground that I lie in
Feed the ground that I live in
Feed the ground that I am in now
Then I realised there is no return
I kept watching the rain feed the ground,
I kept watching the dirt
I kept watching the dirt …
I kept watching the dirt coming down…
I kept watching the dirt coming down on me.

brett whiteley studio - jane gibian - sunday oct 28

Sunday October 28 Brett Whiteley Studio Reading: Jane Gibian, author of The Body’s Navigation (FIP) and long shadows (Vagabond). Also, Petra White, author of The Incoming Tide (John Leonard Press), published in Best Australian Poems (2004; 2006). Readings fourth Sunday of the month from 2pm, 2 Raper Street Surry Hills. Free entry. Guest Poet and Open Mic. Enquiries Brook Emery 0410 406 149

Poets Union seek space

Since the mid-nineties the Poets Union have enjoyed the support of Leichhardt Council which, in addition to sponsoring the Leichhardt Poetry Slam and the Leichhardt New Media Poetry Prize, has allowed us to occupy two rooms at the Balmain Town Hall complex at a modest rent ($66 per week, including GST). Unfortunately, Leichhardt Council plans to redevelop and extend the library and our tenure will cease at the end of the year.

We are currently in discussion with the City of Sydney regarding a poetry centre, but should this come to fruition it will be some time hence and we need accommodation in the meantime.

As a non-profit arts organisation, we are not able to pay commercial rents, but our status as a tax exempt charity and as a deductible gift recipient would allow a benefactor to claim as a tax deduction, the difference between the rent we pay and the property’s commercial value.

Should you have a suitable space, please contact me at the numbers below.

A brief history of the Poets Union and list of its committee follow.

Should you require documentation attesting our income tax exempt charity status; or status as a deductible gift recipient, please contact the Poets Union office.

Jutta Sieverding
Manager
Poets Union
Office: 9818 5366 (Mon, Wed, Fri)
Mobile: 0438 415 712 (anytime)

WORDjaMMin' @ BAr Me Tuesday 16th OcT

This month we feature poets Bravo and Benito DeFonzo accompanied by some fine musicianship. Wordjammin' @ Bar Me is a night of poetry and music that features different guest poets and musicians each month. These artists will come together in a principally improvised format and the result is
What: Wordjammin'
When: Tuesday 16 October 2007
Where: 154 Brougham Street, Kings Cross

Wordjammin' @ Bar Me is on the third Tuesday of the month, 154 Brougham Street, Kings Cross. Drs open at 7.30pm for 8.00pm, $10.00. For more information contact Angela Stretch mobile: 0434 898 578 or eme: info@wordjammin.com.

wednesday october 24 - Live Poets Society / Carolyn Gerrish

Guest Poet is Carolyn Gerrish who will read from her fourth collection Dark Laughter and new work. Also, Open Section (anyone is welcome to recite, sing, tell a story or play an instrument). R

eadings held fourth Wednesday of the month at the Don Bank Museum North Sydney, 7.30 - 10.30pm. $7 admission includes supper and drinks. Details, 9896 6956 or 0422 263 373 or dannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au

wednesday october 10 - PULP / Danny Gardner

PoetryUnLimitedPress Reading is:
Wednesday October 10, 7pm - 9pm,
Sappho Books & Cafe,
51 Glebe Pt Road
Glebe
Ph 9552 4498.

This month's Guest Poet Danny Gardner is a poet, journalist & convenor of the 18 years strong Live Poets' Society Readings. Danny co-edited the last three Live Poets' Press anthologies and is the author of the collections Hope In Progress and Made In Public.

WordinHand! - Tuesday 2nd October

ode to vegemite - becca kellaway

Becca Kellaway actually lives in Melbourne at the moment. But she rocked Sappho Books a couple of weeks ago and here is a suitably nationalistic number for youse all...


Ode To Vegemite
A tribute to Keats

O! Vegemite.
That molten onyx,
Oozing over the rough
Crumbling toast.
As my stainèd teeth
Rip into your skin,
As my blackened tongue
Pierces your sticky centre.
O! Vegemite.
Oh, oh Vegemite.
As peristalsis
Takes its tangy toll.
As you slither down my oesophagus,
Whole.
O! Vegemite.
O! Sweet choking Vegemite.
Soothe the acids of my gut.
Writhe inside my big fat pot.
O! Vegemite
O! Vegemite.

Photo souce: misscaro