Saturday, September 8, 2012





Purple Swamphens


some purple hides near the tail
they go on making it from blue
gradually you become aware
of their bill in red, turquoise chest
to tiny face, white undertail,
brown and orange feet

the only purple is a distant view
of perfumed jacaranda
when purple is floral and warm
it settles on the sky over slatted roofs
when you go down to the water’s edge
Swamphens run in pairs, black tails
flicking Morse code amongst the reeds

an exquisite creature, runs a four-way spread
of feet as a fretwork to its flighty footwork

when purple socks hang to dry
you go on seeing that swamp-bird fly
not wade to the bank on the other side
purple socks fly in the wind, and when snug
inside your shoes, that space between foot
and cuff can’t be seen
much like the purple
on a black and Purple Swamphen 

Photographs by Helen Hagemann (c)

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2 comments:

Nalinsai said...

Hi
I an a hobby photographer and post my photos on Instagram alongside a poem. I took a photo of a purple swamphen at Forest Lake, Brisbane this weekend and was hoping to use your poem alongside it. Full attribution of course.

I post photos on http://instagram.com/gnarlynesh - instagram and on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nalinesh.arun/
No commercial aspect to my photography. Just love to do it.
nalin63@gmail.com

Helen Hagemann said...

Sorry, yes no probs. I am a tad late replying mainly because I have a main wordpress blog. Cheers, Helen

Bounty

Bounty
Prose Poetry

The Five Lives of Ms Bennett

The Five Lives of Ms Bennett
A Family Saga

The Ozone Cafe

The Ozone Cafe
White Collar Crime

The Last Asbestos Town

The Last Asbestos Town
Available from Amazon

Evangelyne

Evangelyne
Published by Australian Poetry Centre, Melbourne

of Arc & Shadow

of Arc & Shadow
Published by Sunline Press, WA

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MBA (Wrtg) ECowan

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Helen Hagemann holds an MA in Writing from Edith Cowan University, has three poetry books: Evangelyne & Other Poems published by Australian Poetry, Melbourne (2009) and of Arc & Shadow published by Sunline Press, Perth (2013). Bounty: prose poetry is published by Oz.one Publishing in 2024. She has three novels published The Last Asbestos Town (2020), The Ozone Café (2021) and The Five Lives of Ms Bennett a result of her Masters degree at ECU (2006), is published by Oz.one Publishing (2023).

Helen Hagemann MBA (Wrtg): ECowan

Helen Hagemann MBA (Wrtg): ECowan
Author & Poet

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