I have several things on my mind for this blog – things that have been stimulating me to quite an emotional state at times. Came across a Henry Miller quote a few days ago. He said ‘Write honestly, even if poorly. Throw your dictionary away.’ (Then a few Henry Millerisms that I can’t print here!) But he goes on to say ‘Try to forget everything you learned in college. First ask yourself if you have anything to say. Don’t draw the pen unless you are ready for the kill. Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. The adventure is a metaphysical one; it is a way of approaching life indirectly, of acquiring a total rather than a partial view of the universe.’
I don’t know if I’m ‘ready for the kill’ each time I sit here to write my blog, but I know I was when I set out to write my memoir. I knew this was going to be a big, open, honest story.
I have just this week entered the Peter Porter Poetry Prize. It has been a while since I entered a poetry competition. I submitted my long work ‘Train to Paragon’ – one I posted here in my blogs a few months ago. Results will be announced in February 2023. Prize money is good – $6,000 first prize. It’s a worldwide competition so chances of winning are slim to say the least, but I read the poems that made the shortlist last year and did get a little twinge of excitement when I decided my abstract poem would look quite at home amongst them.
Sometimes I feel like I am riding on the wings of past successes by posting old poems here, and decades-old artwork on Facebook and Instagram. But I guess it is all stashed here – my inspired work of years, waiting to be shared. And I think if art is honest and authentic it never dates.
I have just discovered an amazing singer/songwriter. Jack Barksdale. I am in absolute awe of this genius musician – a mere teenager. He started recording and writing at the age of nine. He is now just fourteen – an old soul in a child’s body. I can’t help but wonder if this is not the world’s next Bob Dylan. I only hope that he has the staying power of Dylan. Easy for children to get burnt out with early success and fame. So if you are interested, listen to and watch his videos starting with Youtube JackBarksdale ‘Before the Devil Knows – Live at The Kessler.’ Then I’d suggest ‘Gone’, and then ‘Man in the Ground.’ It just gives me goose bumps to imagine where these songs came from – through him.
I was listening to his stuff last night, charged with emotion, when I heard a fox roaming around outside my house. It was its raw, shrill, shriek that made my heart pound. With what? Not fear. Logically I knew it couldn’t hurt me. And although I felt sure my chooks were locked up safely, I’m sure Reynard knew they were here. I let my dog out and she set up her highly charged kelpie barking – animal sounds quickly diminishing into the distance. All my newly-acquired independence, strength, toughness left me in an instant. I think that because my emotions were raw from the music, I felt vulnerable, alone, needing, no not needing, wanting someone to be with me – against the fox, and with whom to share the music. Oh well, part of my journey.
To follow is a poem about a fox I spotted in the Barossa hills one day.
FOX – circa 1980
Hump of March hill looming
Shaggy-piled in shades of gold
Confessing centuries of little change
My two feet (in creek-bed skirting upland)
step in stops and starts
My head tilts back to balance summit
on my mind’s small finger
Foxes startle dizzy contemplation
as reeds give up the russet-coated pair
Brushes confident and florid move to earth
despite my frozen movement (anchored inquisition)
but then emerge
And unaware the two thread surely
into cache and out through sunlight
into distance
coaxed across the tufted backdrop
like the toys that boys pull home on coloured strings
I am gathering small vignettes from my local travels to share with you next time. I must remember that the very ordinary can attain extraordinary life, if expressed well. That is the joy of writing.
Till next time,
Warmly,
Sue
For those new to my website, if you would like to read more of my stories, just scroll down a little and click on ‘Previous.’