Can bush poetry survive?

Recurring debates on important poetry topics.
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David Campbell
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by David Campbell » Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:51 pm

Mal’s comment (“If the style becomes too restrictive and confined to pure bush related poetry then methinks a decline in standards and membership may follow.”) sums up the problem very neatly. The number of poems in the last issue of the magazine that aren’t “purely bush” clearly illustrate this. I can understand what you're saying, Bob and Terry, but I don’t share your optimism that we are seeing a revival of interest in bush poetry or that things will turn out okay anyway. I agree with Neville (“Let’s get better at our craft”) and, to me, that means not sitting still, but being proactive in trying to break down some of the barriers that exist and reaching a wider audience with our verse.

Bush poetry, with its strong tradition based around story-telling, can provide a valuable counterbalance to all the forms of non-rhyming verse that currently dominate the scene. At the moment we’re the skinny little kid perched at one end of the poetry see-saw, while at the other end is this great mountain of flesh that regards us with a fair degree of contempt. I say this because, to the small extent that my free verse is known in the broader poetry world, I’m regarded as that weird bloke who also enjoys writing bush poetry. The attitude seems to be: “Why do you bother with that stuff when you could be spending your time writing more ‘serious’ poetry?” Why? Well, apart from sheer enjoyment, one reason (to borrow Mal’s words again) is that I’m trying to “batter a few doors down”.

I enjoyed the Bush Slam series but, like Neville, was disappointed (and puzzled) that more bush poetry wasn’t represented. Carol did a brilliant job with her poem and I would have thought the ABC might have capitalised on that by approaching some of our other prominent performers. I wasn’t asked, Terry, but wouldn’t have expected to be as I’m not a regular on the performance circuit, and that’s where their focus seemed to be. Would have loved to have a crack at it, though!

I love oysters, Maureen, but (to extend the analogy) the other problem with them is that some people won’t even have a taste because of the way they look!

Cheers
David

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Robyn
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Robyn » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:19 am

Great discussion... sorry I've come in so late.
David: Hear hear! I believe that as rhyming poets we must tackle modern themes, the things that are relevant to our lives today. For some people, that'll be traditional 'bush' themes, but the rest should be encouraged to 'write what they know', be it dementia, adoption, family life or whatever they feel strongly about. Poets have always held a mirror up to society, ie the society they live in NOW.
Neville: I think your point about the poetic quality of our work is a good one. We need to write more than rhyming prose, and even then, good prose can be more poetic than bland rhyming words strung together.
Everyone: great to read so many thoughtful points. Thank you.
Robyn
Robyn Sykes, the Binalong Bard.

warooa

Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by warooa » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:32 am

Or some just totally ruin the oyster by smothering it with bacon and BBQ sauce

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Bob Pacey
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Bob Pacey » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:17 am

Oysters are just something you put on a hook to catch seafood that you can eat !!!!! ;) ;) ;) ;)




Bob
The purpose in life is to have fun.
After you grasp that everything else seems insignificant !!!

manfredvijars

Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by manfredvijars » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:24 am

I feel like I've been reading a eulogy to Bush Poetry in these posts. VERY inwardly focussed! :evil:

With respect David, you only saw ONE hand up as a 'negative'?
You were there 'proclaiming' our craft and Culture to a classroom of ripe minds - THAT's POSITIVE!!

Many of our successful performing poets have been taking their craft to schools even since before the ABPA. The results? OVER THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY KIDS PERFORMED at Winton this year. The Little Swaggies written comp had over FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY entries.

Is that a success story?
How was it achieved?
Can that be applied elsewhere??

Oh, and forget about dissecting the title "BUSH Poetry" into Country/City bullshit themes.

It's MORE than that, it's our CULTURE that we're preserving here - TELLING STORIES IN RHYME AND METRE!!

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Bob Pacey
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Bob Pacey » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:00 am

Here! Here! Manfred, you put it so eloq, elig, ellie, oh bugger it.

Nicely put. Mate.


Bob
The purpose in life is to have fun.
After you grasp that everything else seems insignificant !!!

Terry
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Terry » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:29 am

G/day David,
Having had the pleasure of hearing you read your winning poem at Tamworth this year I have no doubt you could more that hold your own with the best of them.

And to clear up one point, The fact that I try to stick up for a fellow West Australian doesn't mean that I necessarily follow all of those views myself.

And as mentioned in reply to Neville I agree wholeheartedly that we should all be striving to enhance our poems with the use of poetical words that the English language is blessed with.

One point I would like to make in this City V Bush discussion is that while most people live in the cities, those same people are now scouring the whole country in search of new and remote places to visit. I'm amazed at times when I run into Tourist/Adventurers in really out of the way places where I prospect, Australians in large numbers are now starting to discover in person what great beauty remote Australia has to offer.

As for the future, being so far away in what could almost be called an outpost in some respects of the Bush poetry Scene (mind you they still get 2000+ at the poets breakfast at Boyup Brook); by that I mean compared to the Eastern states. I'm not really qualified to say how things are going compared to the past, Yet I have this nagging doubt that no matter what we do or say or even think for that matter will have a lot of bearing on the future. Look at the changes in the past twenty years, there are so many other forms of entertainment, you can only speculate on what the next twenty years will bring, But I agree you have to at least keep trying and who knows perhaps Australians in the future will feel a need to reconnect with poetry be it an updated version or perhaps even more or less as it is now.

Terry
Last edited by Terry on Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Leonie

Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Leonie » Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:27 pm

I stay well out of these discussions these days, but for obvious reasons this one is a bit hard to ignore. I would just like to say thanks David. I guess it comes as no big surprise that I share your sentiments. ;) :)

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David Campbell
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Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by David Campbell » Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:31 pm

Hi Robyn...well said. Poets have always held up a mirror to society. That's exactly what Dennis, Lawson and Paterson were doing in their day, and those of us who feel similarly inclined should try to continue that tradition.

Manfred: I’m struggling to understand what’s prompted your seemingly hostile response. I’ve made it very clear that I’m supporting the ABPA definition of bush poetry as the way forward, and opposing the direction advocated in Val Read’s poem. Val’s suggestion is the one that’s “inwardly focussed”…I’m encouraging the exact opposite! This discussion isn’t a eulogy to bush poetry, if by that you mean mourning the death of it. In fact, this is an attempt to ensure that bush verse continues to develop and be a vibrant contributor to our culture via the world of poetry.

Yes, I did see only one hand going up in response to my question as disappointing, and I’m prepared to bet that you would have felt exactly the same if you’d been standing in my place. There were 150 kids in that theatre…30 or 40 hands shooting up would have been positive, but only one? The fact that I was there at all was encouraging, but to be operating in a knowledge vacuum was disheartening to say the least.

I said earlier that I was delighted to see so many entries at Winton…well done to everyone concerned…but, again, I’d be interested to know how many entries came from our cities. You were the one who said “Bush poetry must be fundamentally a country thing”. I simply agreed. Do Sydney and Brisbane have comparable competitions? Incidentally, how do you think city kids respond to a competition called ‘The Little Swaggies’? How would the youngsters up Winton way react to something called ‘The Street-Kids’ Award’? Probably with “Huh?”

To put your Winton example in context, here in Melbourne we have the Bryan Kelleher Literary (Bush Poetry) Awards. Last year there were 634 Open entries, but only 40 in the Young Achiever section. The prizes are good and entry is free. Yesterday I received the results from a SA written poetry competition that accepted any form of verse. There were 70 poems in the adult section, but only 9 from secondary schools and 2 from primary.

There were 12 poets featured during the ABC’s Bush Slam series, but Carol was the only recognised bush poet. Furthermore, the promotional blurb for the show said: “Bush Slam features Australia’s leading poets and songwriters, including John Kinsella, Geoff Goodfellow, Sam Wagan Watson, Emily Ballou, Joel Ma, Melinda Schneider and James Blundell.” Carol didn’t even get a mention as a “leading poet” in a show that called itself Bush Slam! See what I’m getting at?

Yes, it’s the power of rhyme and metre that we’re trying to preserve, and I’ve already made that very clear in this thread, so I’m not sure what you’re objecting to. Val Read sees one way of doing that, but I see another…one that seems to fit very well with the ABPA definition. This is not to say that everyone should follow this path or that everyone should like it. But it does say that those who want to tackle contemporary themes and move outside the “purely bush” cocoon shouldn’t be banished from competition and shunned by judges because of that.

Marty: Never thought I'd see Gina Rinehart mentioned in the same sentence as the word 'poetry'...and wish I hadn't!

Terry: Yep, all we can do is keep on trying! The future should be what we make of it, not what we let happen to us. Incidentally, I'm happy to contact Val directly if you can send me a pm with her details. I've written a short verse-response to her poem and sent it off to Frank, so it may appear in the next edition of the magazine.

Thanks, Leonie, and nicely done with your poems...both the Bronze Swagman one and the response you've just posted in a separate thread.

Cheers
David

Rimeriter

Re: Can bush poetry survive?

Post by Rimeriter » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:17 pm

Platform Art.

People posing on platforms, provide picturesque visions to see
Study them as you travel, a delight to the eye they can be.
It requires just a short distance, to view these statuesque sights,
a trip of only one hour, will produce so many delights.

***
The south western line to the city, was when I happened to view,
a young woman on Redfern Station. Is it possible it was you?
Draped alongside a lampost, which is ornate ; of old world charm.
She complemented the style and shape. Certainly did it no harm.
A dress possibly of the forties, full length, flouncy and flared
adorned a well rounded figure. It was obvious that she cared.
Her hair fixed in a bun-type knot, but a strand allowed to curl
down one side of a fine fair cheek, her sunshade in a furl.

Further along in the shadow, against a poster, in a black frame,
was another kind of lady. She was possibly on ‘the game’.
Long leotards hugged her figure, revealing every nuance and curve,
She sure enjoyed the attention, with patience, pleasure and verve.
A tight top encompassed her torso, from neck almost to her waist,
most men cast an admiring eye. Some stumbled in their haste.
The poster depicted a movie, about a gangster and his girl.
She had been beaten, bloodied and broken. Then left in a gutter swirl.

Recall the steaming country trains. At Central no puffing now.
But a farmer in the ‘big smoke’ - with a faint whiff of a plough,
leaning against a stanchion appearing very weary and weak,
also a portrait of a gum tree trunk and a log nearby the creek.
A big hat tilts over his forehead, recently purchased and worn askew,
provides protection from the u.v. rays and certainly a better view.
Could his name be Clancy? Does his thumbnail show sign of tar?
No! computers with electronics, have proven to be better ; so far.

Screeching into Town Hall, the first in the underground,
allows us to see the business suits that scurry around their mound.
Straight ties, collars and mobile ‘phones pressed hard up to the ear,
in this noise and the babble could any vision be clear.
Tank Stream gurgles beneath, the three level Wynyard Station,
historic once but in these times it is now a distant relation.
Business suits stand motionless and calculate, what is todays range,
as the stream continues flowing beneath the Sydney Stock Exchange.

Breaking back into daylight, Sydney Harbour sails into view
and posed on Circular Quay platforms are tourists, and not just a few.
Garbed mostly in western clothing but adding to the scene
a cacophany of voices, we’re not sure what most of them mean.
Ferries, tugboats and liners are berthed at various docks
while far behind the Customs House, hear the chiming of the clocks.
The water glistening golden, late sun spears cloud that’s scatting.
Wind wavelets, foam and sailing craft with various voices chatting.

Appearing from out of the darkness, soon after the salt spray fades
are wigs and gowns bound in ‘red tape’, framed by collonades,
In an ambience european, denoted by decorative Italian tiles
are lawyers stern with their faces, mostly wreathed in smiles.
Back bench government ministers, from imposing Parliament House
are posturing on the platforms to prove they have some nous.
Saint James is the station, overlooked by Mary’s Cathederal
with buttress walls and granite steps and appearance medieval.

Again from tunnel darkness, Museum Station looms
reminiscent of old world creatures now posed in dimly lit rooms.
Academics tread these stairways and stroll across Hyde Park
Whilst lovers and some deadbeats use it’s confines after dark.

Travel the City of Sydney. Now cosmopolitan and smart.
Use train rails and carriages to seek out the Platform Art.

©. Rimeriter. Composed 2/99.
Revised 8/10.
Image separate page.

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