Poetry Report - 20th January 2019

The day started off a real true blue Aussie Summer Day, calm as a sleeping kitten and as still as a que in Centrelink; thankfully not much humidity made it a bearable morning. We had apologies from Jean Dawn Gloria Lisbey Kathy Roger David and Coshi. Jamie and Amber were back in the coffee shop and making nice drinks and cake for all. The optional theme and first line were well represented in the recitals. We were joined by two new poets Yvonne’s friend Pam and Jeanette’s Janine.

Bob started the day off with his poem about lessons, he delivered his disappointment with the modern world, stating that we have wider bodies and narrower minds, we’ve added years to our lives but not life to our years; over medicated and over entitled, less respect and less morality and he wondered where it will end, not good. His second poem was titled Bluey’s Blue a funny tale about his ol’mate Bluey the two middi screamer who claimed his absence was due to getting a women up the duff and havin to hide out the back of Bourke, then he ended up pissed and chundered all over the place and then left. Bob closed the day with his song inspired poem ‘My Favorite Things’ his lyrics telling the story of nearly every fading Aussie tradition one could think of.

Banjo recited a great poem he wrote ten years ago about “What it Means to be Australian’ inspired by two foreigners on the news talking about their values now they live here and that Australia was 5thin priority!! He summed it up nicely with the most important thing that what makes you Australian is the love in your heart for this country. The second poem he recited was about his little mate Rover the mud crab and how together they tricked the fisheries inspector with his clever little trick. His third poem was a very energetic professional rendition of ‘The Man From Ironbark’.

Ted recited his poem on the lesson theme as he explained the technicalities of what a lesson actually was and how it is designed to teach you something you didn’t know prior to the teaching, an important part is to know the moral of a story and improve yourself from it. His second poem was on the G’Day theme and it was about the HBC, Hinterland Baptist Church, and he told of how happy and friendly every one is there and what a great positive supportive place it is to be in and be part of; Ted rounded off the poem by inviting everyone to join him and then giving praise to Jesus.

Eoin joined us on the day for the first time in a while it was great to see him and welcome him back into the fold, there were a few new poets he hadn’t met and introductions were made. Everyone liked his poem about the Christmas Fridge and the tale of charity and mateship behind it and the Australian theme.

Joyce recited her G’Day poem as she told of her neighbour from an overseas country and his inability to comprehend the Aussie accent and vernacular with our unique strine ; Joyce left him with a fair dinkum dinky di she’ll be right G’Day mate. Joyce second poem was about a man that had the unfortunate luck of of finding a Genie in a lantern with a hearing deficit that delivered his misheard wish with a 12 inch pianist and the barman got a million ducks!!! Joyce’s third poem was about her ol’mate Jacko and his trip down to his back dam only to find some pretty young ladies skinny dipping, they yelled at him to go away and he showed the wisdom of age and reached into his bucket and stated he wasn’t there to look at them he was just feeding his pet crocodile, ha ha ha ha ha ha

Yvonne shared her lesson poem as she fondly recalled the days in the old school yard when respect was taught and earned and friendships were made and kept for life, she learnt not to sweat the small stuff and to value all life. Yvonne’s second poem was about a fair dinkum true blue Aussie that found himself in the middle of the Sahara Desert with one of the ugliest camels you’ve ever seen, nothing like a Blue Mountain brumby back home, it fought the bit all the way and did what it wanted when it wanted and it wanted to chase a female camel and ol’mate couldn’t find the hand brake and woke up in a hospital bed!!!

Jeanette said G’Day as she told of meeting a Farmer at the Farmers Market and being swept of her feet and living on a farm, then the drought came the sheep died the pigs ran off dam dried up and old Jack shot through on a droving job and never came back, then she heard a knock at the door and it was her new neighbour and he and her went to the pub. Jeanette’s second poem was about the New Year and how she reckons last summer was hotter and last winter was colder and travelling in a car is a pain the ass, she reckons we should live life to the full before we get too old.

Alan shared his poem about lessons and feelings and it was short and to the point and Alan stated at times it’s a struggle to stay alive. His second poem was on the G’Day theme as he reflected on the differences between his homeland and Australia and we have a hot Christmas and never see much snow around here; he reckons speaking of Donald Trump, with an Aussie twang Alan stated “She’ll be right mate” and “no one takes the piss out of me”.

David (Ha) said G’Day and recited his poem with great passion for his favorite AFL team the mighty Western Bulldogs while letting us clearly know his thoughts of the other teams in the comp; he reckons the Doggies are awe inspiring beautiful and divine and he’s sure others feel the same way about their team and talking footy is a great conversation starters for supporters of any code. His second poem was a very tongue in cheek poem aimed at telling people not to take them self too seriously and by saying to “take this personally” he meant the complete opposite and take it as a laugh and poking fun at our own idea of what is attractive and was is not, sounded pretty serious but that was his plan, another poem with a twist.

John shared his poem on lessons and said he wont be mowing the lawn at midnight again, also he had fun gluing the handles on the bin so the garbo would get the lifter stuck to the bin, he learnt that his neighbours abuse their welcome by over staying so he put stones in their pillow cases and salt in the water bottles in the fridge. His second poem was about a restless night when he tossed and turned and got up and made a cup of tea and thought about the old school days and kissing Cheryl and his three brothers and three sisters and he thought about winning lotto.

Judi shared her poem titled ‘Long Gone’ and she told of a man she was was friends with but he liked younger women and she hasn’t seen him for a long time and she wondered did he ever find love. Judi’s second poem was the ‘Highway of Life’ as she guided us on a journey through both high and low roads and warned of the perils to watch for the good times to aim for.

Marta recited her poem on lessons and she reckons its better to be nice to a woman than to argue with her because women can hold their own pretty good. Marta’s second poem started with G’Day and how she hopes to learn more of our Aussie sayings and understand them, she said she even has trouble understanding Tommy the true blue pommy.

Pam joined us for her first time and she came along with Yvonne, she recited a well-crafted poem on postnatal depression and it was well received by all. Pam’s second poem was written by her own Mum in her 90’s about her reflection of life from youthful days to getting married having children and how there was no drug problems when she had teenagers and no LSD and other illegal substances, no locks on front doors and no robberies, going to the flicks was a big night out, she thanked the Lord above for all she seen and lived through.

Janine came along for her first time with Jeanette and she recited her very descriptive poem on a day at he beach with her children, finding a car park, walking in the hot sun and sitting down and eating a nice cool peach. Janine then recited a poem by author Gloria Jasmine Rawlinson born in Tonga 1918 – 1995 NZ, a lovely poem titled “To Let” about a walnut shell once owned by Tinkerbelle.

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4r8/rawlinson-gloria-jasmine

Tom joined us after thinking he would not be available but hew and it here it is, his first poem was lessons learned and he recalled when he was a Kings he knew everything, then he drank too much went out West selling sheep and he met the butchers daughter and they got married and settled down bought a house and had children and a regular city job. His second poem was G’Day and tried his best to put on an Aussie accent as he told the tale of a bloke that found out his wife was sleeping with her tennis coach and was indeed getting a second serve!!!! His daughter was run over by s steamroller and was in bed 1, 2, 3 and four!!! His boat fell off his trailer and slid into a yacht and the owner of the yacht was the Judge he went before for property damage, his son was in jail for questionable behaviour with a sheep and his daughter was pregnant and doesn’t know who the dad is, all the poor bugger could say was “How ya goin mate”. His third poem was about his plan if he won lotto, he would give his mates raffles tickets then tell them they’ve won a lump sum and then share in their joy of winning and being able to share his money without sounding like charity.

Aaron was another poet that thought he would miss the first recital for the year but then made it along to share his poem, he was inspired by words from the late John Lennon “Another year is over and a new one just begun”. He wrote about the Christmas spirit and ‘A Christmas Carol’, he wrote of good times and Christmas Turkey and A Muppet Christmas Special; how learning begins with an open ear and we can all learn to be better, acceptance can be bliss and closing with the fact that death is not a choice.

Manya wrote on the lesson theme as she told of a husband that questioned his wife ‘do we ever learn’; she wanted to leave again and again but they played this role over and over and it appears the answer to his question is sometimes, No!!

G’Day was what she heard from a stranger that stopped to help her when she was moving into a country town and a lovely little cottage, the friendly voice belonged to a Man that stated the house she was moving into used to belong to his Auntie as helped to move her furniture.

Thank you to everyone as we start a New Year of poetry recitals and I look forward to meeting new people making new friends and hearing lots of new poetry with my friends. I hope you have a good month and I will see you all on Sunday 17thFebruary after 12 noon, optional theme is Australia’s Best Loved Poets and the optional first line is “Oh no what is that sound……….” As always you are most welcome and encouraged to write a poem on your own selected theme or topic and share it with us all, take the challenge and explore your creative passion. Be nice when you can, lend a hand when needed and offer assistance when the opportunity rises. Take care Jeffrey and Irene.

Have a Happy Australia Day everyone