Friday 15 August 2014

And still another Odysseus poem


THE MOON WILL ONE DAY FALL:

Can a moment be all moments?

Or, rather, thinking clearly this evening as I stare up
at the distended moon, so heavy
she threatens to fall into labor
and scythes the world over gasp at the thought,

how can it be that many moments fractured in time
and circumstance
are able to resonate across disconnected events
so a similarity of attention captures us
(and we might even whisper
that it is the breath of the Goddess
or our flimsy soul finding itself aware
for the fleeting moment of thought
that haunts us)?

The arrow that pierces…
Achilles pursed lips shocked yet
knowing — his mother had, after all, warned him.

Penelope beneath me, her lips also pursed, her eyes
shocked yet knowing  — her mother, after all,
had warned her.

The black ship cutting through waves, the sound
it makes somehow echoing her gasp,
his cry,
and my heart’s rapid beat

and above us all The Moon —
mother, lover and fated to fall

and we all hope
we are there to see it
and that we are not,
for, like the Siren’s sound that lingers in my ears
long after we had passed that sweet voice’s range,
we will not forget it.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Another poem in the Odysseus series


Greek Pride

The truth about the war
is that it had nothing to do with Helen
and everything to do with Greek Pride —
the pride that quietly took shape there
in solid rocks of Greece,  a pride as cruel and salty
as any savored olive; a pride that bleat
like the sheep so that our ears constantly rung
with it, telling us we were Greeks,
we were the best there was.

We are the sailors of the sea!
We are the fishermen of The Mediterranean!

We cast our nets to lure the  coolest flesh
up out of the mysterious depths of their dreaming beds
and into our strong, tanned arms where they lay —
the salt crusting their lips while our conch-shaped ears
hear the moaning of the ceaseless sea,
The Siren’s call to leave the warmth tasted
and sail again our eager crafts into unfamiliar waters.

What then could we do,
we Greek sailors, but take offense that a Trojan,
and not even the greatest one among them,
could land the supreme beauty of them all,
could sail with her to his homeland and hide
with her behind the city’s thick, silent walls?

If he had but bedded and left
nothing would have come of it —
a short stay, a wading in…then the receding,
the memory of her a secret to be shared
even as he left our shores and sailed away
to some other soft spread of ardent limbs.

He should not have taken her away,
not held up our pride
like the bones after a feast and shout
to the world, ‘These Greeks are but men,
no more than you or me,
and maybe, less even than that.’

No! We could only gather ourselves
like the waves we travel upon,
sharpen our spears
and cross the world to those walls —
camp there on that distant shore, its sand
bitter on our alien skin,
its wind screeching from a direction no wind
should ever shriek from, and prove ourselves again —
show the world and all the peoples within,
that we are the sailors, even the least among us,
the sailors of this world, we Greek men
who came forth from the wooden horse
and reclaimed our worth
in the spilled blood of each and every Trojan.

Saturday 9 August 2014

Book Launches

So soon I'll start planning/negotiating the book launch of Catalina and it got me wondering. What's the best way to do a book launch?

I've done three in book shops but the thing is, I think I've used my hired crowd a lot already (it helps having a large family to call upon).

Is there another way?

Perhaps standing on a street corner with a box of books and a pen (maybe a card table)  and doing a street book launch much like I used to do street poetry back in the 80's. It would certainly marry with my theatre background - an Impromptu Book Launch! Street Art — Literary Style.

Maybe set up a book launch outside the house - like the old lemonade stands. Books 5c. Signed 10c.

Advertise a Garage sale but have only my books?

Throw them at passers-by and plead my case? Sort of a terrorist Book Launch.

Put them in a boat and see where the Australian Government might take them? Of course secrecy might be the undoing of this idea. Who knows, they might end up in India without anyone ever knowing...or worse...In Canberra.

It is probably a shame I'm not Tony's daughter - a  book launch scholarship or a  PM's award would certainly help a book launch - or better still, have a Murdoch or two wanting something of me...then I'd be certain to be in all the papers.

Maybe there is a peptide for writers? Off to a back alley for several shots. Some arts scientist or two to work on my verb and adjective levels...some quick fix that bulges book sales until whole shelves topple over?

Any ideas?

What might work?

How to do a book launch bigger than Ben Hur on a budget smaller than Fearless Fly?

Or shall I simply go the same route again? Find a bookshop, plead my case, ring/email family and friends and maybe drink a red or two and pretend I know none of them?

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Or maybe I won't...

Maybe it'll be my little secret until WikiLeaks decides to get a hold of it...Maybe I need to go underground so that I reach great heights.

Food for thought...perhaps the germ of an idea...my next book...oh wait...that just means a vicious circle.... No writing tonight...I have a headache.




Wednesday 6 August 2014

It begins!

Catalina has undergone a new edit thanks to the Satalyte Publishing team and their editor Alyssa.
Very excited and so glad Catalina will be published soon and then the exciting follow up to Catalina, Catalina's Choice which will soon undergo the editing process, something I must admit I love.

Can I just say I am really enjoying the collaboration with Stephen and the gang from Satalyte!
Just visit the link below and have a look around at the Publisher's website, check out their authors,m their books and stuff! can't wait to see Cat up their alongside the other titles.

http://satalyte.com.au/

Sunday 3 August 2014

Upcoming publications and stuff.

Had dumplings with Stephen  (http://satalyte.com.au/)  and a bunch of authors (and 1 builder) and chatted about various things including these facts!

Catalina will be published in October

Followed by Catalina's Choice

Then Geppetto's Son

and then The Tree Singer.

So the future looks bright and I am buzzing 'cos Stephen and Satalyte are just boundless (in their bindings).

Chatted with him and I'll submit Dada's Seed next. Then I'll finish off the Minotaur book (at this point called The Forlorn Forest) and finally get around to starting on my Odysseus novel - no title for this one which is probably why its still in the poetry stage.

On another note, I sent off a short story (The Co-Joined) to a magazine - my attempt at a horror story and the reply was 'no'  then 'something, something' and  finally 'this is almost porn' - and I didn't even include a sex scene..... I'm guessing they didn't like my story (or they want the pictures).

One day I'll return to The Co-Joined by for now I'll let my porn rest on its laurels...as it were.