are there are no guarantees
life owes you nothing
it does not guarantee life-long love
and even in the security of marriage
and all the kids you could conjure
someone could die, and then what?
you could die – you could die tomorrow
you could sacrifice yourself for your kids
and they could end up hating you
you could sacrifice yourself for your lover
and they could end up cheating on you
you will not find happiness
in the heart of a plasma
only toxic heavy metals
the dishwasher may make
your dishes sparkle
and your oversized oven
may cook the best roasts
but it’s only food
which we have to eat
to survive
if I could smash all the shiny stuff
I would, with the sledgehammer
then I’d smash everyone else
who tried to get in my way
I’d live in a small room
with only the necessities
and I’d ban anything shiny
I wouldn’t buy a house
I’d live like a gypsy
drifting from place to place
like music from a guitar riff
and I’d ride the melody
all the way to my soul
write the words
abandon control
even with all the riches
of a thousand kings
nobody owes you happiness
nobody is responsible for it
only you are
only you
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Instead of posting a poem for my next post, I thought I might change it up and write a reflective non-fiction piece on what’s been going on in my life from an arts perspective.
It’s been an exciting month for poetry. This month my poem ‘Canadian ice-skater’ will be published in the Australian Poetry Center’s Blue Dog anthology, Vol 7 Number 14 and my poem ‘Wog’ was awarded a place in the Varuna/Picaro Press anthology, The Green Fuse. You can buy these from Readings. Go into the bookshop and order a copy if it’s not of the shelf. It’s the best way to support the publication. Also on the poetry front, I participated in the Doris Ledbetter Poetry Cup last week. The event was run by the Overload poetry festival and the Victorian Writers Center. Forty of Melbourne’s well known poets were asked to perform a one-minute poem for a spot in the final round of ten. In the first round I performed ‘Surrender’, a poem I haven’t posted on my blog. I only post half of my poetry on my blog, the rest I send out to get published in print. Anyway, I was astounded to be selected to perform in the final round for the $2000 prize since I’ve never made it past the first round in the other 2 slams I’ve participated in. Although I didn’t win the final round, it was really encouraging to get that far, and the crowd seemed to enjoy my ‘in-your-face’ style of poetry. The second poem I performed ‘Prayer of blood’ was also well received, even though it’s quite disturbing. The night was buzzing with poetic energy. There were different types of poems and voices. I’m really looking forward to the Overload poetry festival in September.
Next I’ll move onto novels. I’m still polishing off my first novel, Misplaced, and making it perfect before I submit to an agent or publisher. Artists do have the urge to rush their art but we really should take our time and give it our best. I am planning to send Misplaced off by the end of the year. I think I’m finding it hard to let go of the book. It’s been a part of my life for five years now, and it’s almost like one of my children. I know I’m ready to move onto the next book, but a part of me doesn’t want to let go. I’m sure all writers feel this way about their novels, so I’m just going to have to force myself to the desk and do it. Speaking of novels, as part of my diploma of writing I have had to read Tim Winton’s Dirt Music and I have to say that I am astounded it was a best seller and shortlisted for the Man Booker. Although Winton is a master at imagery, the plot is uneventful, and I couldn’t care less about the characters. But it isn’t just this book that has left me so uninspired by Australian literature, there are so many I’ve read lately. It just makes me furious – why are the same boring books getting published and re-published? And if we take a step back and look at the arts overall, it seems that the same art is getting re-hashed over and over again. Surely there is better art out there?
Which brings me to music, and this reaffirms the point I made above. There is so much great music being played in pubs around town, and some of it is better than the monotonous stuff they play on mainstream radio. I’ve been getting out to a few gigs lately and I’m seeing a combination of performances. I don’t always know what I’m going to get when I go to a gig, the music could infiltrate my soul, or it could leave me with raised eyebrows. It’s the luck of the night. I’m not going to name names, but sometimes I go to gigs and the band has all this shiny new equipment, but do they know how to use it? No. Or a band I saw last week, where the singer obviously had a strong voice, but he was so overfilled with his own confidence that it was obvious he had spent no time working on controlling his voice. A voice is also an instrument, and it needs to be tuned. That was a disappointing night. Then there are those guitarists who have fifty effects pedals and spend most of the gig moving their feet all over them. Gosh, I just cringe. I’m coming to hear you play guitar, not pre-recorded sounds. There needs to be a balance. Then you get bands that are so focused on trying to ‘make it’ that they’re dishing out mainstream sounds without an substance or originality. If I wanted mainstream sounds I wouldn’t even bother going to a gig. I’d just sit at home and listen to FOX FM. It makes me want to get up on stage and shout, play something inspiring!
But then I get nights where I am so entranced by the music that I’ll literally get high on it. Sometimes I even find myself writing in my notebook, reflective pieces, poetry, and particularly a poem I’ve been working on about the music scene and the liquor licensing issues. Some recent stand outs for me at gigs were Death Valley Band and Red Coats. Two other newer bands that I feel are still cutting their teeth but have the potential of evolve to something greater in the future are Fangs and Wolf vs Fire. 
Of course at this point I can’t go on without mentioning that my favourite Melbourne rock band, Trial Kennedy, who generously allowed me to study them for my novel Misplaced, is touring with the NZ band Shihad in November. The band is also working on their long anticipated next album which I’m guessing will be launched some time next year. It should be a great night and I’m very much looking forward to Mr Gray’s masterful guitar riffs and Morrison’s exhilarating voice and lyrics.
That’s about all from me today, until the next installment…
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My poetic life
August 19, 2010 at 1:52 am (Creative commentary, Reviews) (Death Valley band, Redcoats, Trial Kennedy, Wolf vs Fire)
Instead of posting a poem for my next post, I thought I might change it up and write a reflective non-fiction piece on what’s been going on in my life from an arts perspective.
Next I’ll move onto novels. I’m still polishing off my first novel, Misplaced, and making it perfect before I submit to an agent or publisher. Artists do have the urge to rush their art but we really should take our time and give it our best. I am planning to send Misplaced off by the end of the year. I think I’m finding it hard to let go of the book. It’s been a part of my life for five years now, and it’s almost like one of my children. I know I’m ready to move onto the next book, but a part of me doesn’t want to let go. I’m sure all writers feel this way about their novels, so I’m just going to have to force myself to the desk and do it. Speaking of novels, as part of my diploma of writing I have had to read Tim Winton’s Dirt Music and I have to say that I am astounded it was a best seller and shortlisted for the Man Booker. Although Winton is a master at imagery, the plot is uneventful, and I couldn’t care less about the characters. But it isn’t just this book that has left me so uninspired by Australian literature, there are so many I’ve read lately. It just makes me furious – why are the same boring books getting published and re-published? And if we take a step back and look at the arts overall, it seems that the same art is getting re-hashed over and over again. Surely there is better art out there?
Which brings me to music, and this reaffirms the point I made above. There is so much great music being played in pubs around town, and some of it is better than the monotonous stuff they play on mainstream radio. I’ve been getting out to a few gigs lately and I’m seeing a combination of performances. I don’t always know what I’m going to get when I go to a gig, the music could infiltrate my soul, or it could leave me with raised eyebrows. It’s the luck of the night. I’m not going to name names, but sometimes I go to gigs and the band has all this shiny new equipment, but do they know how to use it? No. Or a band I saw last week, where the singer obviously had a strong voice, but he was so overfilled with his own confidence that it was obvious he had spent no time working on controlling his voice. A voice is also an instrument, and it needs to be tuned. That was a disappointing night. Then there are those guitarists who have fifty effects pedals and spend most of the gig moving their feet all over them. Gosh, I just cringe. I’m coming to hear you play guitar, not pre-recorded sounds. There needs to be a balance. Then you get bands that are so focused on trying to ‘make it’ that they’re dishing out mainstream sounds without an substance or originality. If I wanted mainstream sounds I wouldn’t even bother going to a gig. I’d just sit at home and listen to FOX FM. It makes me want to get up on stage and shout, play something inspiring!
But then I get nights where I am so entranced by the music that I’ll literally get high on it. Sometimes I even find myself writing in my notebook, reflective pieces, poetry, and particularly a poem I’ve been working on about the music scene and the liquor licensing issues. Some recent stand outs for me at gigs were Death Valley Band and Red Coats. Two other newer bands that I feel are still cutting their teeth but have the potential of evolve to something greater in the future are Fangs and Wolf vs Fire.
Of course at this point I can’t go on without mentioning that my favourite Melbourne rock band, Trial Kennedy, who generously allowed me to study them for my novel Misplaced, is touring with the NZ band Shihad in November. The band is also working on their long anticipated next album which I’m guessing will be launched some time next year. It should be a great night and I’m very much looking forward to Mr Gray’s masterful guitar riffs and Morrison’s exhilarating voice and lyrics.
That’s about all from me today, until the next installment…
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