Hagemann's Saturday Poetry now at "The Grove" Library

Saturday Poetry at The Grove Library, Peppermint Grove

Join Helen Hagemann's second Saturday Poetry class for Term 2 at The Grove, 28th August, 1.30pm-3.30pm. This class will look at the inclusion of “MOTIF” in poetry and ways of making your contemporary verse richer with wider references. Prior to writing exercises we will look at the work of Andrew Marvell, Nathan Curnow, Kate Llewellyn, Michael Ondaatje and Andrew Taylor. The Grove Library is situated at 1 Leake Street, Peppermint Grove (just around the corner from Stirling Highway). Check out the blog for directions and map @ http://www.writingatthecentre.blogspot.com All welcome!

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Poem for the Day - Claremont Showgrounds

Claremont Showgrounds

When you enter this microcosm
 country life meeting city 
you're not thinking of Sideshow Alley.
Your ear instructs you to the polo,
wood-chopping, craft and produce show.

You're not thinking of bunny hops, eagle
drops on the Roller Coaster, your name called last
for the Camel Ride, or the one-off number
you couldn't collect for Big Bear or Panda.

All winter your children saved for the whirligig
of whoops and jolts, the Bumper Cars, Animal Farm.
And later, not wanting the consequence of home,
the tattle of how much money they spent, they ate
all the lollies, cramming each showbag into one.

Aloft and linking arms with your children,
bodies close in sync, you rocked and tilted a view
above the fairgrounds: your small family made up
of, one boy, one girl, minus the boss at home.

Time to reflect then on the good grace
of the author above who tossed down one, pure,
cloudless day under September sun.

The Chair Lift: a slow bird over Claremont
The Fishing Game: cardboard you couldn’t eat
Sideshow Alley: a crushed amble of heads and hats
Carnival Tents: a series of fringes and fur
Fairy Floss: gone in seconds
The Exit Turnstile: one last ride for home.

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Vale - Alec Choate 1915-2010

Vale by Helen Hagemann, 4th August, 2010

I met this lovely man at his book launch of My Days Were Fauve, an Autobiography in Verse. I attended the launch with a friend, enjoyed Alec's reading, the wine and the company of many poets I knew. I bought Alec's book and was amazed at the creative, kinetic energy of his verse that was sustained throughout in imabic pentameter & rhyme. I later discovered that My Days Were Fauve was shortlisted for the WA Premier's Poetry Book Award 2002.
This book is now a good resource for me. I teach poetry in Fremantle, and know that Alec Choate's major works will eventually be held up to the light once more.

Rest in Peace, Alec, where the good poets go.

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