Category: Poetry
Poetry
Tea Party © Joy Chellew
Today it lives in a crystal cabinet
my bright little china teapot
shaped like an English cottage.
It’s not valuable to anyone but me.
You see, the secret of its worth
is safely deposited and stored away
in my own special memory bank.
Time was when I arranged
tea parties on lonely afternoons
lovingly shaping pretend cakes
with mud and grass and pretty petals
to share with Betsy, my china doll,
and we took tea and happily chatted.
You think that strange?
I enjoyed those quiet hours
and happy conversations.
In my imagination
our back yard became
my imitation English garden.
To this day I remember
how that little china teapot
poured away all my loneliness.
Rowboat © Maree Silver
Pushing out from
an inlet’s reed-bed
into the amber river
we head upstream
Oars rest in rowlocks
bend stroke bend
body in harmony
at one with the boat
Sun shines through cobalt
warming soothing
young bodies
bather clad
Rays glint from wavelets
splashing gently into banks
Green parrots’ staccato screeches
warn the flock of our intrusion
Reaching Picnic Bend
we swim sunbake
play on the sandy beach
savour our al fresco lunch
Relaxed for return journey
downstream with the current
oars dip and draw around
fallen trees and branches
Arriving back at
our sheltered haven
oars are shipped
Tiny Tim made safe
Summer holidays
have just begun
Childish Things © Jean Sietzema-Dickson
I’ll make a list of all the things
with which my childhood really rings:
of clocks and socks
and chicken pox,
of toys and joys
with playing blocks,
of thrills and spills
in climbing trees,
of blackberries
and wounded knees,
of rhymes and times
of reading books
and kitchen fun
of playing cooks
of cubby houses in the bush
and swinging branches with a whoosh…
of picnics at the creek below our house
of playing Pooh Sticks It was ‘grouse’.
Dropping sticks the upstream side
we ran across to watch them glide
out from beneath the bridge. The creek
flowed slowly. We had time to seek
for berries on the bank.
Not these days!
Our adult lives rush
past us in a haze.
Phoebe © Cecily Falkingham
here she comes, our little princess
she dances lightly in her new pink shoes
multi-coloured ribbons shine
on her bouncing curls
eyes shining, she spins and weaves
her happiness sweeps us up and carries
us to a new realm, where each
minute is precious, each second enough
we could learn a lot from this child
she already knows some of
life’s big secrets
embrace the now, dance, laugh, sing, love,
explore and share these gifts
put on the music grandma, let’s dance
Newborn Janette Fernando
Two become one
and you are conceived,
the moment of birth draws near.
No longer confined,
you are exposed.
We see who you are
and we name you.
You look so perfect –
ten fingers, ten toes, such tiny nails,
a wise but innocent face.
Fragile, yet strong,
helpless, but free;
your life a paradox.
The cord is cut
and one becomes two.
The letting go begins.
Waterfight © Peter White
the water flies
loaded arcs of riotous laughter
cascades of ever building crescendos
down hair, faces, tummies, leg
pools on the grass
slowly turning to mud
delighted yelps of oh no!
help! ring out
like rays of sunshine
bathing the park in summer
wet bodies ducking, weaving
behind slides, trees, somewhere to hide
drenched but elated
tired and wrung out
water buckets packed and stowed
hair shaken out
drying bodies pick up towels
car keys, drive themselves home
Behind the River Reeds © Yan Sun
Across the river
behind the reeds
there lives a Water Dragon
so they say.
Finally I find my way there
on a hot summer’s day;
under the big wooden wheel
water splashes happily.
Pushing through green reeds
I gasp:
It’s him –
the secretive Water Dragon!
No shining scales
just lots of bones
brown, muddy and v-e-r-y long;
it stretches into the rice paddy
that knows no bounds.
Take off my sandals
climb onto the Dragon
slowly I start to walk
and before long I run.
I feel the Dragon moving;
I am flying!
Higher and higher
on the Dragon’s back…
Foreseen © Don Helmore
‘Except you become as little children
you will not enter the heavens.’ Matt 18:3
Bend, and depth-look
into a wee babe’s eyes.
You may peek through
lucid pupils
into warm womb wonder.
In time, beyond
that unborn place,
the acorn mysteries
form a moving
complexity.
Wholesome seed memory
directs wise thought.
Heaven’s spirit.
Look within wee babe’s eyes,
go soon my friends.
The Salon © Leigh Hay
I find them together
quiet as mice
‘Ted’ sitting upright on a little wooden chair
the floor beneath a growing mound
of nylon shavings faintly blue
the colour of him.
She’s wielding scissors
(her very own pair)
vigorously cutting
giving Ted a trim.
“It won’t grow back” I gently tell her.
Then I chance a look at hand-me-down Ted –
legs and arms of moulting fuzz
his glassy bead an eye job in need
jacket faded stuffing missing
and a button nose that’s seen better days…
…and I quietly go back to the ironing.
Child at the March © Catherine m Barnard
Thousands in the city street:
I meet a big dog with massive feet.
His master says he walks today
for many creatures who have no say
as to how they like their habitat.
So many people: I have my dad.
Someone parades as a polar bear;
their ice is melting, so I hear.
Parents with little kids hanging on;
we join the chant – it’s like a song.
All sorts of people with placards;
mine’s a huge green cardboard heart:
Save our beautiful earth!
Winners of the 2015 Poetica Christi Press Poetry Competition – Imagine
First Prize
Avril Bradley
The view from a balcony in Noosa
Second Prize
Cameron Semmens
Upon holding a brand new person (womb-fresh and yawning)
Other poems selected by the judge to appear in the anthology – poets listed alphabetically:
Mazzy Adams
Coalesced
Avril Bradley
Things to do in the belly of a whale
Victoria Carnell
Ride with Chesterton
Joy Chellew
Imagine
Jennifer Chrystie
If Dogs Were Horses
Tru S Dowling
Orange Rope Walk
John Egan
Ghosts and Dreams
Jeff Guess
Jigsaw
Don Helmore
Behold
Gillian Hunt
Moon orchids
Gillian Hunt
Palestine Dreaming
Janine Johnston
Kintsugi
Fiona McIlroy
Quicksilver
Jane McMillan
REM
Jan Price
Close Your Eyes
Paul Scully
Waltzing Croydon
Christina Spry
Champagne Cocktail
Peter Stiles
The Crabapple Tree
Ron Thomas
Bas-relief
Ron Thomas
Warrandyte Thoughts
Rachel Timmins
Sun Dried Tomato
Valerie Volk
In dreams
Bron Williams
Shadows
Joy Chellew’s new book – “In Search of Peace – A journey from dismay to discovery”
Joy Chellew’s love of the Scriptures colours both her life and her poetry. In Search of Peace is testament to this love and her search for the perfect peace that only God can give. Joy’s poems bask in God’s blessings; her words walk in His strength; her perceptive insights reveal the power of God’s promises, comfort and constancy. In Search of Peace is rich with intent – to give God the glory.
Book Launch – Inner Child
to be launched by Marlene Marburg on Saturday July 25th
Books available at 1 pm. Official launch at 1.30 pm followed by afternoon tea
A number of poets will have the opportunity to read their work
at the Lutheran Hall, 711 Station St, Box Hill
Invitation to Launch of Inner Child
Poetica Christi Press 2015 Annual Poetry Competition
closes August 31st, 2015
1st PRIZE $300
2nd prize $100
25 poems will be selected to be included in an anthology to be published by PCP
The theme for this competition will be
IMAGINE
This topic lends itself to poems about imagination, fantasy, illusion, dreams, legend, the future, creativity, exuberance, whimsy, fancy, reverie, utopia, idealism, playfulness, hope, wonder, imagery, empathy and social justice.
For entry forms click here.
Poetry in the Library – May 1st
WORDSMITHS OF MELBOURNE INVITE YOU TO
THEIR NEXT BOX HILL LIBRARY READING at
1040 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill
FRIDAY 1’st MAY 2015 6.30-7.30pm
featuring Steven Smithyman & Carol Poustie
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL CONTACT the Box Hill Library on: 9896 4300
or book online at www.eventbrite.com.au/org There will be limited open reading.
The flyer for the event can be found here.
Stephen Smithyman is the son of two New Zealand poets, Kendrick Smithyman and Mary Stanley. He is married to the actress, Joy Dunstan, and they have two grown up children, Mia and Pablo. They live in West Preston. Stephen has taught secondary English and Drama for many years, mostly at Melton Secondary College. He began writing comparatively late. He has won awards for both short story writing and poetry. His poems, in particular, have been published in a range of anthologies and magazines. He won the Cancer Council of Victoria award for Outstanding Poem in 2011 and the Poetica Christi Poetry Prize in 2013.
Carole Poustie’s work has appeared in numerous journals, including Swamp, Poetrix, Divan, Writer and Verandah. She convenes the spoken word event ‘Stopping all Stations’ in the eastern suburbs and is a past winner of the Page Seventeen Poetry Competition. Carole reviews for Magpies, has published a children’s novel, Dog Gone, just finished its sequel, and is working on a picture book. She has recently completed her Masters in Writing and Literature and teaches creative writing in several community houses. She works part-time in a listening role for the WellSpring Centre.