As I was surfing the internet earlier this week, I discovered that today is National Poetry Day in the UK. Upon further research, I discovered Australia doesn’t have an equivalent – with the exception of the (niche) cultural acknowledgement of, and participation in, the UNESCO-declared World Poetry Day on the 21st March.
(Incidentally, wouldn’t it be nice if Australia had an official National Poetry Day? Who do we talk to about that? Or do we make it a people’s movement?)
When I’ve spoken at conferences in the past, I’ve mentioned how I’ve often posted poetry on this blog in the past and what those posts lack in terms of driving traffic to the site are beneficial in other ways. So today I thought I’d feature a selection of better poems from over the years and reference a few posts-about-poetry as a small tribute to the occasion.
1. Be not afraid
The above poem was part of the #julycreativechallenge that I created for myself a few months ago (and that feels like the distant past already!). It’s more of a fragment, really. I wrote it as a kind of a self-soothing consolation for periods when I’m in the midst of an anxiety attack, and its purpose was to hopefully help others in a similar situation. What doesn’t necessarily ‘work’ is the Beethoven mention if the reader is unaware that he was almost completely deaf by the end of his life. The phrase ‘legless piano’ is also a bit ambiguous. The movie Immortal Beloved has a scene that tips its hat to this story.
2. Desiccated Coconut
Plucking the hammer
from my capable fingers
you said, ‘I’ll drive in the nail.’
Milk sluiced into the cup;
chunks orbited the perimeter,
exploring containment.
I can still see tools
arrayed upon the bench
like evidence in a trial:
‘Weekend Getaway
Gone Wrong’
(as it had)
The liquid was sour
disappointing my mouth –
like every other time
we’ve bought coconuts.
You said, ‘I’ll put it in the fridge
it might taste better cold.’
Ironic
seeing our marriage doesn’t.
*
I wrote this poem before the ‘coconut craze’ (water, oil, etc.) hit the world. It still works because coconut milk still tastes foul. This poem is in Crying in the Car.
3. You are not so kind as you used to be
Again, the poem assumes knowledge of Clementine (Churchill) and Winston (Churchill).
(I like poems about marriage woes, don’t I? Don’t read too much into that.)
4. You hate the sound of pencils
I’m a big fan of pencils.
What poem makes me cry? What are some other tear-jerkers? Read this and find out.
6. How to Write Erasure Poetry
A small ‘how to’ exercise.
If this post has inspired you, maybe you can write something about poetry in honour of the (UK) National Poetry Day. And Aussies – I’m serious. Let’s make one too.
Gentle reminder: Early bird rates for My Creative Process ecourse close on the 18th October.
