For many of you, this Easter long weekend is an opportunity to escape home, to go somewhere different, more fun, more interesting, more whatever-it-is-that-you-want. But for some of us, the long weekend is about returning home, and returning to everything that means. I drive out ten years from the city’s heavy gravity from the safety…
Guernica
The Spanish Civil War ended on this day in 1938, with Madrid falling to Franco’s fascist forces. The town of Guernica was made famous by Spanish art Pablo Picasso and his amazing mural which you can see here (and read more about what happened to the town here). American art curator, reviewer and poet James Johnson Sweeney…
The Exam
by Joyce Sutphen (Same season, different hemisphere) It is mid-October. The trees are in their autumnal glory (red, yellow-green, orange) outside the classroom where students take the mid-term, sniffling softly… You can read the full poem here.
Make my life glad with nothing
‘Make my life glad with nothing.’ I like it! I’ll let you read it here. (You can read more about the poet, Rabindranath Tagore, and find more of his poems, here.)
I don’t feel at home where I am
Russia and Mr Putin are in the news quite a lot recently – but how much Russian poetry have you read? Today’s poem is from Russian poet Regina Derieva. I don’t feel at home where I am, or where I spend time; only where, beyond counting, there’s freedom and calm… You can read the full poem…
Happy Harmony Day!
Today we celebrate multiculturalism, because we are a community where everyone belongs! Today’s poem makes me think about the divisions between us: how they got there, why we maintain them, what makes us challenge them and tear them down. …He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.” Spring is the mischief in me, and I…
Capturing a moment…
Remember haikus? Those funny little 3 lines poems we probably all looked at primary or high school? Haikus are all about capturing a particular moment, feeling or experience, playing with words, sound and rhythm to fit the form – what poetry is all about! This one is (translated) from 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho:…
The harbour bridge
On this day in 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, a symbol of progress and great change in a time of great economical and social hardship. It has become a symbol of Australia, an icon that first comes to mind when people from overseas are asked what they know about our country. We often…
Sorrow Gondola No. 2
Another great thing about poetry is how it can allow us to escape, transports us to other times and places. Today’s poem comes from Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer. There are lots of references in this one – don’t be afraid to look them up! Two old men, father-and son-in-law, Liszt and Wagner, are staying by the…
‘Tis the morrow full of storm
The weather is so often the subject of poetry, and here’s another corker from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda: ‘Tis the morrow full of storm in the heat of summer. The wandering hands of the wind shake the clouds like white handkerchiefs waved in farewell… You can read the full poem here.
Everyone in me is a bird
(Image courtesy of Adams, M 2017) Happy International Women’s Day! 8 March is a day for learning about what life is like for women and girls around the world and learning more about how we change inequalities and injustices ingrained in our cultures, systems & institutions. You can read more about the day here. Today’s…
Broken feet
Today’s poem is by Australian poet Susan Hampton. You know those times when you’re stopped in your tracks, the moment seems so poignant, and you’re trying to figure out what this thing really means? In two weeks you’ll be back, and I don’t know how you’ll feel. We haven’t laughed together for months. My pictures…
March: A Month of Poetry at Gungahlin College 