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Posts Tagged ‘poetry in Western Australia’

No 6 of 7 Poems for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Love, Poetry, Romance, Writing, tagged Frances Macaulay Forde, Perth, Poem, poems, poetry in Western Australia, Valentine's Day, words, writer, writing on February 10, 2014| 2 Comments »

Turning the Page

You were focused

on study so I

waited, peeking

through the crack,

watched you turn

a page, rushed

to kiss you quick.

I twirled to leave,

let you get back to

reading but you held

my gaze, turned

the page again and

again, and again

until I kissed

you again and

again, and again…

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No 5 of 7 Poems for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Love, Poetry, Romance, Writing, tagged Frances Macaulay Forde, Perth, Poem, poems, poetry in Western Australia, Valentine's Day, words, writer, writing on February 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Before you…

I slept in a bed without creases

only pulled up sheets to straighten

smooth – no effort at all

ready for the next Dreamtime.

Now I love my wrinkles…

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No 4 of 7 Poems for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Love, Poetry, Romance, Writing, tagged Frances Macaulay Forde, Poem, poems, poetry, poetry in Western Australia, Valentine's Day, words, writer, writing on February 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Committed Skin

I crave committed

skin. Pale, pink tones

of a fragile heart.

Silky strands tantalize.

Forest of words

– thoughts, forcing

forward movement

careful continuation of

soft, subtle actions.

Reassurances

given, refusing

to provide any more until…

absolutely sure,

when our surfaces

eventually meet

– rub together in love-making,

no other skin will suit.

1^st pub: ‘Hidden Capacity ~ a poet’s journey’ MMB Publishing, Ireland, 2003.

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No 3 of 7 Poems for Valentie’s Day

Water bird

Lakeside, I watch

the Coots bouncing

on top of the water.

They throw their heads with

intention and abandon, plunging

– totally immersing themselves.

I want to bounce…

Immerse myself…

Plunge into you….

1^st pub: ‘Hidden Capacity ~ a poet’s journey’ by Frances Macaulay Forde, Ireland, 2003.

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No 2 of 7 Poems for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Love, Poetry, Romance, Writing, tagged Frances Macaulay Forde, Poem, poems, poetry, poetry in Western Australia, Valentine's Day, words, writer, writing on February 7, 2014| 1 Comment »

Vacuuming

With every pull

toward your body

you expect obedience.

Expect each micron of dirt

to be sucked up and away.

Look at the attention

you give stairs.

How do I become like stairs?

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Red Umbrella

Posted in Art, Poetry, Writing, tagged Art as the Spark, Frances Macaulay Forde, Jessica McCallum, poetry, poetry in Western Australia, Raincheck Exhibition, words on December 22, 2013| 2 Comments »

“Red Umbrella Series” by Jessica McCallum
from ‘Raincheck’ Exhibition 2010

I see red

when you raise spikes

along the metal shaft,

sharply snap it open,

stretching the bright silk

above your head

–

I see red

a mobile patio –shelter,

protection from storms,

hurling lightning bolts

of tears from women

left wet in your wake.

–

I see red

in a sea of bobbing grey

between skyscrapers

the calm sway – swagger

of hips – loose, lithe strides

confident until another

–

red umbrella takes the stage.

_______________________________________________

‘Raincheck’ an exhibition in case of showers… 2010

Artworks by Mixed Media Artist, Jessica McCallum

Held Aug 23 – Sept 10, Subiaco Arts Centre Gallery, Perth, WA.

(Poetry postcards from exhibitions available from WEBSITE)

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Raincheck

Posted in Art, Art as the Spark, Poetry, Writing, tagged Art as the Spark, Frances Macaulay Forde, Jessica McCallum, Poem, poetry in Western Australia, poetry postcards, Raincheck Exhibition, Raindrops, words, writer on December 20, 2013| 1 Comment »

Umbrella Series (detail) by Jessica McCallum
‘Raincheck’ Exhibition 2010

Like tears

Rain hits my umbrella

Bouncing bursting

Droplets scattering

Spreading my pain

Shimmering images

Relections of you

–

Love like rain

Showers me

With tears

–

_______________________________________________

‘Raincheck’ an exhibition in case of showers… 2010

Artworks by Mixed Media Artist, Jessica McCallum

Held Aug 23 – Sept 10, Subiaco Arts Centre Gallery, Perth, WA.

(Poetry postcards from exhibitions available from WEBSITE)

Read Full Post »

“All The Pretty Ones Are…”

Posted in Art, Art as the Spark, Poetry, Writing, tagged 'All the Pretty Ones Are...", Art as the Spark, Artist, Frances Macaulay Forde, Jessica McCallum, poetry, poetry in Western Australia, Roll Up! Roll Up!, words, writer on December 18, 2013| 3 Comments »

Roll up! Roll up! Crack

the whip! Circle the horses.

Let the monkeys laugh

–

and play with careless

disarray around this heart;

broken, wounded, fallen

–

from the high wire,

grip gone, hands open

in mute surrender.

–

Your forced false smile

Painted in a permanent

Good-vibe leer… I tip

–

my hat to all who stride

into the ring, willingly –

take a chance on love.

–

All the pretty ones

are gathered for love’s

circus performance.

–

Watch out for the Ringmaster!

He can reach a hand inside

your chest and squeeze…

–

Written for “All The Pretty Ones Are…”

Studio Underground Foyer

State Theatre Centre of WA

(Friday 11 to Sunday 20 November 2011)

Funny folk, fear & fascination… complete with feathers…

All The Pretty One’s Are, is an exhibition of mixed media paintings by local Perth artist Jessica McCallum and will be on show for one week only in the Studio Underground Foyer at The State Theatre Centre of WA. Jessica’s style incorporates traditional watercolours & inks with a dark twist, and large-scale pop art, mixed media pieces. Her influences are murals, street art & old-skool comic book culture. Ever wanted to run away to the Circus?

For further information please visit http://jessicamccallum.blogspot.com/

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Like dust…

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged Adrien Abbott, Australian Love poems, Australian Poetry, Frances Macaulay Forde, inkerman & blunt, LIke Dust, Love, love poem, poems, poetry in Western Australia, words, writer on November 8, 2013| 3 Comments »

Facebook is such a trigger for this blog: Today a beautiful anthology of ‘Australian Love Poems’ was reviewed and linked by Adrien Abbott Prize page with the quote from Anne Walsh Miller: ‘You’re written in me in the before antiquity language of snowflakes. / Landing everywhere on me so thickly that you’re on me and in me and on my tongue / (you on my tongue is why I talk beautifully like snow under a streetlamp).’

In the light of recent plagiarism issues with Australian Poetry, the quote reminded me strongly of a poem of my own published in 2005 when I was asked to write a love poem to be read at a good friend’s wedding. As I had very recently found myself deeply and unexpectedly in love, Barry asked me to express feelings which overwhelmed me, at precisely the right time.

In 2003 I returned from 14 glorious months immersed in poetry and short story where I learnt the ‘I’ was usually taken out of poetry, so this would be a new public direction – I usually kept my ‘love’ poems very private.

The style of writing had to suit the audience – Barry’s mum was deaf and many of her deaf friends would be there with an interpreter to share our words.

Read my poem ‘Like Dust’

Those who ‘watched’ my words, apparently loved the poem although I didn’t find out until later there is no ‘sign’ for ‘dust’, so the interpreter had to improvise… but she managed beautifully.

And I was left wondering, what a shame I couldn’t submit my poem to the anthology ‘Australian Love Poems’ because it was already in the public domain and those I did submit obviously didn’t appeal because they weren’t included. Not that I’m too disappointed, they let me down easily by saying many excellent poems were not included.

I actually bought two copies, one for me and a gift for a friend but was so pleased with the book in my hand, I’ll be buying more as gifts for Christmas.

Inkerman & Blunt’s next project is an anthology of Love stories. No doubt it will also grace my bookshelves and be wrapped in Christmas paper.

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Changes

Posted in Writing, tagged ABC Tales, Australian Literature (AusLit), Australian Poetry, Australian Society of Authors, australian writers guild, Burn Beach Cafe, Facebook, Film & Television Institute, Frances Macaulay Forde, LinkedIn, poems, poetry, poetry in Western Australia, Poets Cafe, Poets Corner, Screenwest, website, words, writer on October 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Now that internet is ‘old hat’ I don’t feel the need to have multiple ‘pages’ spread all over the place although they serve me well when people Google my name, I’m slowly reducing the information on my official web pages here: http://francesmacaulayforde.com to cut down the repetition.

Of course I’ll keep my presence on professional sites where I have full membership such as the Australian Society of Authors, the Australian Writers Guild, Australian Poetry, Australian Literature, SCWBI or crew pages: Screenwest, Film & Television Institute, ABC Tales IMDB and others. There’s even an interview on Fremantle Press.

So in future, I’ll just focus on regularly updating Facebook (for all the goss), LinkedIn (for professional networking), ABC Tales (to post writing regularly) and here, where I’ll keep in touch with my followers in gratitude for their interest.