Author: colleen

Kur-ring-gai Botanic Garden by Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry , , ,

between breaths

“Nothing more beautiful under the sun than to be under the sun”
Walt Whitman

On one of those chill winter days
when rugged up in your woolies
you don’t mind it being such –
with stay of azure sky’s low sun

an in-breath of wildness to interrupt
day to day mindset

distant ring of the honeyeater
a creek tinkles      gold      glint
tones of green     all  beckon

into a world charged with a Hopkins vibe
sienna beacons of banksia
enlivening the way

sturdy trees usher us onwards
some  ramrod sentinels
others lazed-back like friends
free   in size and shape
red gum turpentine iron bark
 peppermint    scribbly gum
thickened roots flow like treacle
into rock crevices


white trunks with stories to tell
their scribbled language intrigue

suddenly crunch crunch in the undergrowth
alerts us to wallabies
that bump bump bump away
we miss their peering eyes
but so happy they are here

deep in the forest we find a spot
in a clearing for our picnic.


magpies warble their presence
a brush turkey befriends us
two kookaburras entertain our stay
one like a zen buddhist on the bough above

the out-breath of wilderness comes
reluctantly
like the end of a symphony
that holds you in its other world

 

Some surprises y in the undergrowth

Scribbly Gum by Colleen Keating

colleen Bush walks, Poetry , , , ,

Scribbly Gum

who writes the scribbly dialect
written into trunks of eucalypts ?
I watch the trunk of a gum-tree
no sign of a scribe

who writes the scribbly dialect
written into trunks of eucalypts?
i run my finger along the rambling lines
and enjoy the mystery

May Gibbs found inspiration
for her writing on the gum leaves
Judith Wright peeled its splitting bark
and wrote her poem
of this life she could not read.

how lovely to enjoy wonder 
believing in fairies 
at the bottom of the garden

who is this secret poet ?
who is this hidden creator?
this graffiti artist?
leaving its tag  on trees         
and what is it trying to say?

a brown moth rarely seen
is the curio   its tiny eggs hatch
mysterious larvaes  burrow down
like children in class taking up their pen
they tunnel along writing  their journey
and as the circle of life comes round 
form moths and  like students fly free

 

May Gibbs 1876-1969    May Gibbs MBE was an Australian children’s author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies, and the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie  and her scary old Banksia man.

Judith Wright 1915-2000   Judith Wright was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award in 1975.  Judith was also a recipient of the Australian National Living Treasure Award in 1998.

Scribbly Gum Moth tells the story of the insect’s life cycle.

Scribbly gums are spectacular Australian eucalypts that get their name from the strange ‘scribbles’ left behind on their smooth bark. These rambling tracks are tunnels made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth and tell a story of the insect’s life cycle.

Photos of the Scribbly Gums were taken by me in the Ku-ring-ga Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

Ku-ring-gai is an Aboriginal word describing the home or hunting ground of the local people.

Radical amazement by Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry , ,

 

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….
get up in the morning
and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.
Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible;
never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

by Abraham Joshua Heschel

A selection of recent moments of amazement. 

 

 

 

Radical amazemnt 

This morning low on the city horozon
I watched the sun twinkle through the trees
their tracery –  bare limbs of deciduous  and  evergreens
highlighting its early journey into a new day.

It is a holiday here for the Queen’s birthday
and on the sharp edge of winter it is hard to leave my bed
as one would normally do to rise with the light
I linger “under the doona” as we call it these day
and ponder Heschel’s words .

How easy it is to take another day for granted
to  look  casually  at the wonder of the light
outside my window
at camellias blooming gloriously in red and pink and white
some with soft salmon  frilled to the edge.

How easy to  treat the bird song in the high trees
 casually rather than hear it as music for my soul
and to forget everything around us
be it common, familiar, ordinary 
is  phenomenal, incredible and extraordinary.
not waiting   for it to be gone or to change to realise this

When the word radical means deep, absolute total
there is no room for measure
when amazement calls for  surprise, atonishment even shock
we have our call to live with radical amazement

Our spitiuality.No need for church
it is here right now

Sometimes I think I can hear light speak by Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry , ,
Sometimes I think I can hear light speak to me . I hear all its moods and they often parallel with mine. The whole day the light is with me from the moment it bursts from the dark to the time it leaves for us all to rest and even with it coming and going it is wonderful in its expression. In all its sounds, in all its expressions light is true and in that comforts whatever its mood for I know things never stay the same  or static . . .joy or grief  . .this too will change.

Light

One day the sun admitted,
I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you
The Infinite Incandescence
That has cast my brilliant image!
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The Astonishing Light
Of your own being!

by Hafiz

Eucalypt tanka journal, Issue 32, 2022 : update by Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry , , ,

 

Great to receive the latest Eucalypt tanka journal, Issue 32 , 2022,
find one of my tankas included – ‘flawed journey’
and to enjoy the leisure and pleasure in
dipping in and out of this enjoyable journal.
Thank you to the editor Julie Anne Thorndyke
for the wonderful presentation of our work.
I feel honoured to be included  . . .  named side by side with this
International group of Tanka writers

‘flawed journey’

eucalypt leaves
I search for the unblemished
only to realise
that beauty is in
their flawed journey

In memory of Uvalde’s children by Colleen Keating

colleen General ,

 

As I think of those families mourning the children who died in the Uvalde Elementary School mass shooting in Texas I find myself reflecting on the shining eyes of my Grandchildren: whispering to me about the gift they have made for their Mum for Mothers Day, describing to me how they think they saw the Easter bunny,  the light in their eyes as they open the birthday gifts we bring.  I think of the love I have for them and how I would do anything to protect them from evil that lurches about and my heart weeps for the Grandparents and their lost grandchildren  in the Uvalde Massacre and who have to standby powerless watching their sons and daughters grapple with the loss of a child.  

Poetry can not stop the pain, but poetry can give words to addressing  the agony.  it can stand quietly by for those who are experiencing wrenching heartbreak at this time.

In memory of Uvalde’s children

 our once big world   now a global village
with space and time a lillyput in a satellite realm
is real its song of humanity
its agonising cry

today’s message carries
visions of a school shooting
school photos only left–
tiny faces peering out
their shining eyes
show all the little dreams
children dream
and strip to nakedness
a whole nation

staring once again at emptiness
we are the witness
with adults bent over in pain
– many in foetal position
holding their bodies
from its bloodbath

it is said giving attention
is the rarest and purest sense of generosity

focus on
a small town  a primary school
a classroom
children
focus on
the good
alive in the agony of dissent
weaving
weaving in

A new Hike in the Wyrrabalong National Park by Colleen Keating

colleen Bush walks , ,

 

 

It was going to be a short walk in the Wyrrabablong National Park this afternoon, the air so clear and fresh after the many squalls of rain we have experienced in the past week the leaves of the trees and palms and ferns sparkling in the mild autumn sunlight . The sight reminds me of TS Eliot description of thee leaves like children  clapping hands with joy.  The perfect day for a walk. The plan was to walk along the Red Gum Trail to the Swamp Track which I usually walk on a dry path frolicing along to the song of the frogs  on both side in amidst the ferns and palms and towering wonderful Red Gums. However the swamp track had become real  and explained why it is called the Swamp Trackand we learnt that about half way along as it became impassable. And we had to turn back!

reflection

acoss our track

water flows

into  our world

upside down

So we turned back and decided to do the full track Red Gum Trail joined into the Lilly Pilly Track and then wound back by the bushy Burrawang Track.  Michael did well even though we had not planned to walk that far. We had two pleasant sit downs  on lookout platforms over the Lake.

   

 

Sydney red gums have beautiful bark, which changes colour and texture as it is shed. They have twisted and winding branches, strange looking growths and protuberances and wonderful creamy yellow blossoms when in flower. The unusal shapes especially where the trunks and branches ‘flow’ over obstacles and around obstacles.  They have excellent old growth cavities and hollows for birds and squirrel gliders to shelter.

Besides the Red Gums the Burrawangs and Banksias were spectacular fresh and green after the rain.

 

                           

 

After our hike we settled at Canton beach for a cup of tea from our thermos and we watched a spectacular sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Witches, Women & Words by Beatriz Copello

colleen General , ,

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I am proud to have a part in the affirmation of this wonderful newly realeased book by  Dr. Beatriz  Copello and published by Ginninderra Press. It was successfully launched last Friday evening and let’s hope the word spreads this is a collection of poetry not to be missed. 

“Beatriz Copello’s words take us on a profound journey through the perilous life we all find ourselves leading, where hope is hidden and ancestral anguish drives us to seek meaning and hope”

Anne Summers, journalist

These extraordinary poems in Witches Women and Words have our hearts beating with rage. This powerfully evocative collection speaks frankly of the twists and turns, pains, despair and hopes of the woman, the human, the poet, the abused earth, her trees and seas and biodiversity. 

In a world where “soldiers march blindfolded and mute” and of “wounds that never heal” It takes us on a journey: a witch’s broom, protection of a coven, and a cauldron of life’s struggles, to become free to allow the poem of woman to be created: “the poem born the poet a god”

She will have a voice, choose her destiny. You will be spellbound as you navigate these sensuous and imaginative poems where, “the persistent Southerly is a foreigner on this piece of soil” and “senses are like a tree in winter.”

This is not meant to be a peaceful read. This powerful collection of poetry by Beatriz Copello disturbs like her muse Neruda, with “words of fire, steel and hope. ” even as she writes “hope is hidden like a miser hides his riches.”

Colleen Keating, poet

Can we conjure a better world with the magic of words?  Can women, in particular, escape the cruel prison of history?  Beatriz Copello believes so.  Though she is “scared she learns to walk again” and “lets her blood run wild” in her new book, Witches Women and Words.  Even as the horrors of history reassert themselves, even when she is blindsided by the familiarity of death and haunted by lingering wounds in an atmosphere heavy with unspoken guilt, she “chooses life”.  With wit, passion and grace, and above all infinite empathy for the pains we all share, she chooses it for all of us.

Richard James Allen, poet.

the vissitudes of a blue butterfly by Colleen Keating

colleen Poetry , ,

 

the vicissitudes of a blue butterfly  

she lavishly opens her wings
teal-blue fans quiver  
playing warm still airmotley light from the trees

she darts and dives
ah with what precision
dodges the many hazards
with angular flight

creole-eyed she alights to sip
from sweet honey-dewed
red-dressed grevilleas
moves with notes of music<
up and down around and in me

with lightness and freedom
I know dull blue of wings
etherised
silver-pinned under glass

and think of shy miss butterfly
sprawled in Eliot’s poem
pinned and wriggling on the wall

today her iridescent triangles of blue
flash with the sun like flying jewels
intoxicated with life

Colleen Keating

An exciting launch for Decima Wraxall by Colleen Keating.

colleen General , ,

An exciting launch, not of one book, not of two books, but a launch of three books by Decima Wraxall. And I was honoured to be oart of this afternoon.

Poetry books: Flame, and Glimmers of Light and  a memoir Stolen Fruit.

Thank you to Ginninderra Press for the beautiful books .

This can be called a back log due to a pandemic or it can be called passion, dedication and determination to writing. We called it the latter . Congratulations on a wonderful, warm and writer-enthused afternoon. As I said at the launch.

“This for sure is a monentous occasion. Finally, we are here to celebrate. We are gathered and rightly so Decima , for you have not allowed anything like pandemic or lockdowns  to stop your writing. You have transcendented inertia to be here today with three books to launch. We have looked forwardd for so long to this bubbly celebration.