Poetry

"Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air." (Carl Sandberg)

Photographic Poems

Photo-poems - a new category of poems based on photos of Australian flora and fauna.

Faith - a Spenserian sonnet.
Saving Grace - an inspirational triolet.
Existence - a poem about life and the appreciation of natural beauty.
Where are they now? - reworking of an anonymous 14th century poem entitled Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Fuereunt? (Where be they who before us were?).
In God's Hands - a short celebration of divine grace.
God's Creature - a song of praise and longing.
Dear Lord, I'm Sorry - a prayer of regret.

Fairytale Romance - a poem in 'ottava rima', after Byron's Don Juan.
Nightmare Alice - a poem based on Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.
Phoenix - a fantasy poem about a mythical creature.
The Fairy - a poem describing the fairy at the bottom of my garden.
Lyric Landscape - a poem evoking a world of wonder.
Thoughts of a Gothic Maiden - an Alfred Dorn sonnet, reminiscent of Anne Radcliffe's heroines.
Cinderella - the traditional fairy story, told in rhyme.
Song for Saira - inspired by Loreena McKennit's song Marrakesh Night Market.
Noli me tangere - the title comes from Thomas Wyatt's poem Whoso list to hunt (1557). It is Latin for 'Touch me not'.

Beastly Behaviour - an environmental poem lamenting the impact of humans on wild animals.
Daybreak - viewed from an aeroplane.
Contrasts - a poem presenting three contrasting environments.
Contrasts (2) - the above poem revised, to give consistent meter and two more verses.
The Kitten's Song - a poem from a kitten's point of view.
Urban people - environmental awareness, responsibility and the threat of total extinction.
Aburn - Urban People, completely revised to make a pattern poem shaped like an insect.
Werombi, Australia - a poem celebrating my home in the Australian bush.
Bright Butterfly - a rondolet.
Borrowed Glory - the beauty of winter.
Corrupted Rainbow - addressing my environmental concerns.
Pride - a family of lions at rest.
Sunset - an Alfred Dorn sonnet.
Eomecon chionanthus - a salute to the Dawn Poppy.
Soundscape - an onomatopoeic journey from the mountains to the sea.
Feline Frustration - an address to our two Burmese cats.
End of the Trail - solutions to a gardening dilemma?
Spring Winds - inspired by swallows feeding at dusk.
Watching - New Years Eve / New Years Day 2002.
Battlecry - (for the war against Kikuyu grass).
Waterfall - inspired by a photograph.
Flight of Fancy - an experimental environmental poem.
Save the Whales - Collect the whole set - another experiment in environmental poetry.
Basho's Haiku - ... seven story-songs of a woman turning towards the sea.
Mr Kelly Brings Water - a poem of synchronicity.

One Thousand Balloons - an early poem about the release of a thousand brightly coloured balloons.
Thinking Prohibited - a poem contrasting life in the real world with life in the mind.
Flow of Consciousness - a poem about the process of poetic composition.
Flow of Consciousness (2) - a haiku version of the above poem.
Flow of Consciousness (3) - a minimalist version of the above poem
Vanity Press - a triolet questioning the current directions of poetry.
Sister Song - a poem for Steff (my sister).
What are little children made of? - a rewrite of the old nursery rhyme.
Poetry - a celebration of poetic power.
Medusa - a poem about anxiety.
Vocation - a tribute to a fellow poet.
Make it Fresh - a poem about the eternal difficulties of finding inspiration.
Who's afraid? - a tribute to Virginia Woolf.
Latham, ACT, 1976 - a poem drawn from childhood experiences.
Latham, ACT, 1979 - second in a series of poems about my early childhood.

Solitaire - a poem about loneliness in love.
The Abyss - a 'minimalistic' love poem.
Awareness - The Abyss - rewritten.
Two Live as One - a love sonnet.
Miracles of Love - a celebration of passion.
The Agony Aunt & the Lonely Heart - a poetic 'dialogue' using the rondolet form.
Beloved Insect - a childish love story.
Revenge Philosophic - when love goes wrong...
Different Agendas - a ghazal dialogue between he and she.
Buried Treasure - a 'terza rima' journey of discovery.
Get Real - dealing with emotion.
Wedding Song - for Saira and Seamus, 4/5/03.

Sonnet variations - bouts-rimes - original sonnets written with rhymes borrowed from famous poets. Current sonnet count = 10.

Cinquains - experiments with the form developed by Adelaide Crapsey. Current cinquain count = 12.