I said in my last post that I had a little more to write about our little city holiday. Well not much more actually. Just that to round off our jaunt, there was a Japanese restaurant two doors down from our apartment. We both love Japanese food so, despite the fact that we’d had a generous (entree size mimicking a main) Italian lunch that day, we chose to have a drink and a few small delicious bites at Ryumon in the evening. Our two days had been lived at a happy pace, and without having to worry about parking, had been totally relaxing. We were both excited at the prospect of more of this from time to time.
Since my last blog, we have had another gathering of poets. We are such a diverse group – poets each one of us but with totally different natures and personalities. I find that interesting in itself. One of our prompts for this meeting had been ‘Murmurings,’ and amazingly at least two wrote about birds and the flying-in-formation phenomenon. I never use the prompts, as I’m trying to offer up much of my poetry from over the decades. As I pluck each one from the bulging files of them, I do a little edit to bring them into line with my established style, which now has gentle non-obvious rhythm. Then I file them in a current folder with the original poem tucked in as an insert. There are poems that I will never share. These are the poems written through grief, sadness and hardship. It was the therapy I gave myself as I wrote, until the debilitating emotion was dealt with. To me, this is not the kind of poetry I would share at a group reading. We usually have a little discussion after each poem. I think it would end up being a group therapy session rather than the appreciation of how words can portray powerful visual images.
I just asked Google – ‘What is poetry?’ AI told me –
‘It is a form of literary art that uses the aesthetic, rhythmic, and imaginative qualities of language to evoke deep emotional responses. Instead of simply conveying information, it relies on carefully chosen words, sound effects, and visual structures to stir the imagination.’
In the same article I read – ‘One of the key characteristics of a poem is rhythm and meter. Many poems use a structured beat or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a musical flow.’ I was pleased to read this. It felt familiar.
I really love the style of one of our group – Sally – who reads beautifully. I love her rich pauses, and sometimes the repeating of a line. So powerful. And sound effects. For words to produce them is so clever. Onomatopoeia is the technical name for it.
These words mimic the sound of an action or object they describe. By reading or listening to them, your brain triggers an auditory response, to bring the scene to life. Being in poetry is certainly one of my happy places.
What else have we been up to since my last blog? We had another of Leigh’s sisters and her husband and some of their family – all from Melbourne – visit us here. They were in Adelaide to watch their grandson play baseball. He was representing Victoria in the Under Sixteens. The scouts were out and as a result Brodie was chosen to represent Australia, which will take him to many countries no doubt. I love to see parents recognising and encouraging the talents of their kids, and opening the doors that will help them succeed.
The family made a day trip to The Barossa and we showed them a little of what our region is about. I have lived here all my life and in the capacity of ‘tour guide’, I was reminded of its beauty and uniqueness. The people who live here have a pride of place. In the early days, The Barossa was about growing grapes, making wine, farming, producing food. Today it is equally about tourism. The history, the charm of its stone shops and homes and their gardens, the cafes, restaurants, cellar doors have people pouring in – especially on the weekends. But it all starts with the success of the vignerons and wineries, both of which have been struggling for a long time. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what would happen to our valley if these began to fail. It’s hard to imagine our Barossa as shabby and forlorn. We have good strong people, advocates, marketers, business owners, administrators – all working hard to keep the status quo. Bless them all.
At the moment we have one of Leigh’s close friends and his wife staying here with us. They have flown over from Perth for a few days. I love to see Leigh interacting with his long-term mates. It makes him absolutely happy. I know how important my friends and family are to me and how special these relationships are for our well-being.
Again we will take Peter and Carol around our Barossa, have some different experiences ourselves, bask in the joy of good food, wine and conversation. Life is good.
Well folks, I must apologise for the lateness of this blog. I hope you haven’t given up on me. I thought I had computer gremlins but it turned out to be my website. In a minute I will hit ‘Publish’ and have my fingers crossed that all I have written doesn’t disappear.
Keep safe. Enjoy life.
Warmly,
Sue
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