Reckless Paper Birds...

Reckless Paper Birds (2019)- John McCullough



what am I?


I am all
my day connives


I am yellow
and pink

I am jellyfish
and seashells

I am fizzing light
on
skeletons of Russian thistle

I am
the stone
rolled back
in the desert


I am a cup or a mug


I am
the infection
from a contact lens


I am Montaigne
on some days
and even Gaga


I am a dangerous minting
with my cloud of thorns


And beneath it all
I am the silent blanket
with its own agenda
unfinished



That is as close as you can get
to upgrade from

what I am

to

who am I?

MY GOODREADS REVIEW 

Reckless Paper Birds by John McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reckless Paper Birds by John McCullough grips the poetic microscope tightly and closes into the deepest recesses of body and soul in action... together, not separate. The body is no longer the frame, the encasing for the soul, but is the reality of the soul... McCullough's poems are a heaving sea of past and present pieces - colours, scenes, objects and people - all washed into tides of cresting and crashing waves riddled with sensual shock after sensual shock.
The 'I' figure emerges and fades and re-emerges through the poems, ensuring that all the physical experiences are overlaid with soulful introspection.
Varying poetic formats ensure that no one poem is quite the same as the last; no one wave can ever be the same in the sea that is life.
The energy in the poems is palpable, generated by a lively selection of verbs and tightly paralleled images e.g. Outside, the weather bludgeons photo ops... So many images are crunched together and overlaid, creating a richly mesmerising poetic experience.
This collection of poems dares to portray rarely visited (or even recognised or known) human experiences. And the impact is a pleasant surprise.


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Waiting for a Miracle...

Waiting for a Miracle (2018) - Helen (Wininger) Livnat


We didn’t know who was fighting who or why

we only knew
biting winds
snow
burnt homes
cramped trains
filthy
torn clothes

the smell of death

and a hunger
that stifled all sense of morality

but in our hands
we had a miracle
(or two)

waiting

an old Bible, the entire Torah on one scroll

and
I was about to make sounds
that would make a bird proud

I had
a violin

MY GOODREADS REVIEW
Waiting for a Miracle: Historical Novel by Helen (Wininger) Livnat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Within the first few pages of Waiting for a Miracle we learn that All Jewish boys older than ten years of age, are to be taken from their families to be disappeared somewhere in the Russian prairies. And so the many shadows around being a Jew in Romania, threatened first by Russians, Germans and then Russians, from the eras of World War I to II, begin. Through several generations of one family, we feel what it is like to live in a borrowed country on borrowed time. But finally, one hope consistently emerges in an unexpected form...a violin, Feivel's violin. Feivel's playing opens what appear to be impossible doors. By the close of the novel, I felt a sense of incredible shock and admiration for the strength of these people. Somehow, the current 2020 suffering of covid-19 lockdowns tends to pale into frustrating discomfort by comparison. Even the epilogue stirs the spirit. The author returns to key places in the novel and tells of what she finds and how she feels there. A very moving, unforgettable novel.


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The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie...

The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie (1995) - Gary Crew and Peter Gouldthorpe


diamonds

a treasure map
secretly teasing on
a scrimshaw

diamonds
desired by
no less than
Queen Victoria

diamonds
tucked on
an island
a wind-stressed
island

diamonds
dancing in
the hungry soul
of
an obscure
painter

myth

legend

or history

yet
to be written

MY GOODREADS REVIEW

The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie by Gary Crew
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie is a beautifully illustrated narrative of elusive treasure. It is a story that suggests it connects with an historical mystery surrounding green diamonds on Flinders Island, in the path of the Roaring Forties, off the east coast of Tasmania. Even the legendary Queen Victoria has a connection. I'll admit, however, that I was initially drawn to the book simply because I loved my brief life in Tasmania and longed to visit Flinders Island, a dream that was not fulfilled. So, in short, curiosity of place first drew me to this book. The opening combination of narrative and illustration I found most appealing, refreshing. However, as the narrative progressed, I felt it struggled to a rather melodramatic and abrupt tragedy. I could not but help wonder if that tragedy was really needed and, in fact, did it seem to slow and smudge the effect of the final scenes. I almost rated the book 2 stars, but felt that the beauty of the illustrations moved the rating to an actual 2.5 (but I could only rate 3).

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The Fig Tree...

The Fig Tree (2002) - Arnold Zable


to be Jewish
is to be
a wandering Jew

to sing
as a Jew
is to sing of lost worlds

and perhaps
seek the poetry
in new worlds

but always
there is

the question

where is home

can there ever be
a place

a lasting place

called

home

MY GOODREADS REVIEW
 The Fig Tree by Arnold Zable
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Fig Tree spins the unsung stories of Jewish people. The stories may initially centre in 1930's -1950's Carlton, Melbourne, the author's home base now, but they fan out to connections with Poland, Greece, Russia, Thessaloniki and Austria. There's a mother's story, a father's, a poet's story and the story of lovers - to name a few. Each one symbolises a picture of yearning, a limbo, a feeling that home is a question still waiting for an answer. Maintaining some semblance of allegiance to old values and adapting to new ones becomes a tension, a struggle and a hope to reach some kind of balance. Zable offers perspectives from a range of age groups. Each one has its own unique narrative, strength and view of life. The result is an intriguing insight into the life of wanderers, shunted out of their own worlds, by such as the Holocaust, and seeking a sense of place and value.


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A Room Made of Leaves

 A Room Made of Leaves (July, 2020) - Kate Grenville


what if
official history
only shares
threads
of an iconic Australian story

what if
that iconic Australian story
omits and
twists
vital
threads
for no reasons other than
social limitations
meeting the standards of official scrutiny
and acceptable public mannerisms
especially if you happen to be
female

what if
we ask
John Macarthur's wife Elizabeth

what did you see
what did you hear
what did you understand
how did you feel
about beginning
a new life
in a new world
and how did you adapt

would that
kickstart
a new edition
of old history

and finally

what if
the real
pioneer of wool in Australia
should really be
not John

but Elizabeth

what if
ultimately
the story is a caution for today's world

take care
what you believe
take care
what you claim
is truth

MY GOODREADS REVIEW 

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Room Made of Leaves rumbles round in official records of migrants to early Sydney, and suggests that perhaps the historical light may be shining too brightly on particular places and people, blind-siding others who played significant roles in the unfolding of Australia's colonial era. The world of John Macarthur, the official wool pioneer, seems to have some interesting gaps. Perhaps the biggest gap is an understanding of Elizabeth, his wife. Who was she? How did she interact with her husband? Was there a business and a personal connection? Was it maintained? How did she adapt to a new life far from England? Questions abound. But while the questions may not offer substantial answers (this is a novel), more importantly, the fact that these questions exist demonstrates that Kate Grenville has successfully wooed us into re-thinking the historical record and perhaps stimulating further research and question of our own. Grenville's Elizabeth sounds like a woman of strength, not satisfied with the decorums and mannerisms of her time. She was not satisfied with being a woman of needlepoint in a parlour, but a woman who liked to listen, watch, learn and act with a measure of understanding consequences. She knew how to handle sheep (from her upbringing in England). Grenville suggests that Elizabeth gathered her sense of belonging, her energy, her identity, in a sanctuary, 'a room made of leaves'. By contrast, John leaned to an interest in business deals to his advantage and enjoyed the hype of city life. To what extent, then could John claim to be the pioneer of the wool industry? The novel offers an exciting exploration of who this Elizabeth really could be. In fact, there is a strong connection with the present times...who we all really could be if we dare to step away from the stereotypes and cliches, and have the will and drive to find our own place in the world.

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A Life in Stitches...

A Life in Stitches (2011) - Rachael Herron

I'm a memoirist with a shabby memory
My life can be measured in lengths of yarn - p.10


casting on
slip knot
wrap and turn
back stitch

my yarn world 
returned to
Ashburton

double crochet
circular knitting
pick up and knit
whip stitch

a sweater on display
was a life
on display but
nothing I did
felt authentic
till I found
true love

and in the room

the women come and go

chatting still

of ebbs and flows

tree of life
knit two together
basket weave stitch
stockinette stitch

growing up
was all about
bossing sisters
and knitting
a wedding dress

and in the room

the women come and go

chatting still

of ebbs and flows

maidens and flyers
duplicate stitch
blanket stitch
chain stitch

yarn stashes 
and the internet
find each other

and in the room

the women come and go

chatting still

of ebbs and flows

negative ease
join in the round
drafting triangle
repeat to end

just write
what the story needs
and try again

and in the room

the women come and go

chatting still

of ebbs and flows

MY GOODREADS REVIEW

A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A Life in Stitches is a bubbly, chit-chatty memoir that would be great in girl groupies and girl huddles. Each 'chapter', or memory snapshot, represents a knitting stitch, all symbolically ordered from casting on to knit two together and more. Notably, there is no 'casting off', but rather 'repeat to end'. No, you don't need to be a knitter to appreciate the different stitches. They are simply a platform to bring a closeted knitting scenario into the modern world beyond the lounge room and TV; beyond the older generation leisure. Knitting becomes a social prop for passing narrative. The concept is interesting. Perhaps more interesting to those who closely follow Rachael Herron's website Yarnagogo.com., and seek to know the life of the creator a little more. For those who have only tumbled into this book from the outside, perhaps consistent audience engagement could be a little limited. At first, I enjoyed the knitting life, but, toward the last 50 or so pages of the memoir, I felt that thoughts were stuck on circular needles... same pattern, new row. I struggled to keep going.
Would a male be inspired by this memoir? I feel the answer would be 'no'... There is too much female rant for a male to handle and the male character that appears seems to be casually flicked away into oblivion. I doubt many teenagers would be attracted to the memoir, unless, of course, they have a penchant for knitting. Audience age group almost seems to be narrowed down to the 20-40's female audience.
I'm glad I've read the memoir, just so I can say that I have tried something different. (And I am a knitter, too.) But I can't say that the experience will linger favourably.

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