It’s always delightful to stumble on a review of one of my books, but when I cam across this review on Youtube this week, I was blown away! Dionyy, a librarian at Greater Dandenong, took so much time not just to give an opinion on the book, but to really delve deep into the characters, themes, settings, structure, illustrations and more. So thorough!
Librarians truly rock!
I’ve been head down working on a verse novel, having set myself a goal of finishing the current draft by the end of the month. I love the feeling of knowing it’s almost there after a lot of struggle to bring together three different voices to highlight a little piece of history I feel is important.
This week, though, I found time to browse in my local bookshop and felt compelled to pick up a little red book called 500 Beautiful Words You Should Know.
I guess it’s no surprise that I was attracted to a book about words, but it surprised me how much I straight away wanted to read the book, cover to cover. It’s clever. each word is accompanied by a paragraph or two with a definition, discussion of its origins and examples of usage. this could be quite dry and dull, but it’s done in a way I find entertaining. And the words themselves are delightful, thought provoking and/or amusing ranging from quite common words to ones less known.
At home I was inspired to see if I could work some of these words into my poetry but, when my notebook came out, I found myself instead challenged to use the words as titles. Could I write poems each using one of these words as the title, and the poem itself inspired by its meaning? I’m trying not to simply define the words, but to think a little outside the box. I’m not sure I’ll write 500 of these little poetic snippets, but I’m having fun with the prompt and the challenge, dipping in to the book until I find a word that inspires me and then writing a short response. Here’s my first three.
Accost
How could you? I ask
How dare you?
But the person
in the mirror
does not reply.
How can I?
Imprimatur
Mwah!
Sloppy toddler kiss
gives approval
for Granny’s baking.
And lastly, this one, inspired by my recent desire to write about jellyfish. The video that follows (which I have shared here before) might help explain the poem.
Bagatelle
Drifting
above sandy floors
and rocky shallows
at first you seem
just a blob of jelly
but then you twist
and tiny party lights
show your hidden talents.
I’m off to get that novel draft finished, but there’ll be some more writing inspired by 500 Beautiful Words in my near future. I’m also ready to check out the Poetry Friday Roundup. You’ll find it here.
It’s Poetry Friday and it’s also April 1, which means it’s the start of National Poetry Month (NPM) in the United States. Here in Australia, our Poetry Month is in August – but I choose to think that EVERY month should be poetry month, so I am going to celebrate in April AND August, as many other months as I can – even Octember!
I thought I might start the month by considering what poetry is. Having completed a Doctorate in children’s poetry, it is probably surprising that I find it hard to give a simple answer tot his question. But, if youlvoe poetry, you’ll understand: poetry is different things to different people.
So, for me, I find it easiest to define by using a poem. I have given this definition in workshops and classrooms for quite some time – and was delighted to then be able to include it in my book Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose last year. And now, here I am sharing it with you to celebrate NPM.
A Poem
A poem
is a whole lot of words
a plethora of words
a smattering, a scattering
a shattering of words
thrown on a page
in carefully created
chaos
to make you wonder.
It’s not a definite answer – but the best poems aren’t – they leave you with something to ponder – maybe a depth of feeling, maybe a sense of joy, or maybe even just a giggle.
I’m off to wonder at the other offerings for Poetry Friday. The roundup is being hosted by Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe.
Time for reflection on my reading for the month past, and I am happy to report that I did indeed get some reading done. My tallies in January and February were abysmal – so low I was a little embarrassed to report them – but I turned this around in March and managed to finish 14 books. I’m pleased with this, and also pleased with the big range of books that have filled my life – from quirky board books, to dark, but beautiful, novels. Here’s what I read:
Travels of an Extraordinary Hamster, by Astrid Desbordes and Pauline Martin (Gecko Press, 2015). A funny chapter book/graphic novel told entirely through illustrations and speech bubbles. Hamster is selfish, and yet somehow endearing and his adventures will entertain young readers.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume (Bodley Head, 1979). I love Judy Blume, and picked this book up in a second hand shop a while ago. The adventures of Peter, a fourth-grader whose biggest trouble in life is his little brother, Fudge.
Interned, by Pamela Rushby (Walker Books, 2022). Wonderful historical fiction set in and around the internment camps in rural Australian in WW1. Some tough subject matter, told with compassion and a gentle touch.
Everything You Want to See, by Kyle Hughes-Odgers (Fremantle Press, 2022). This is such a cute little offering, in board book format with rhyming text and whimsical illustrations, showing young readers the things they want to see. Sure to be a firm favourite with my grandies.
Wombat Can’t Sing, by Katie Stewart (Fremantle Press, 2022). A lovely picture book text about knowing one’s own strengths, and not trying to please everyone. As you can see from the cover, Wombat is gorgeously wrought.
The Last Light Horse, by Dianne Wolfer, illustrated by Brian Simmonds (Fremantle Press, 2022). The fourth and final instalment in the breathtaking Light series, this historical picture book focusses on the story of Sandy, the one light horse who was returned to Australia.
Answers to Brut, by Gillian Rubinstein (Omnibus/Puffin, 1998). An op-shop find. and a Rubinstein book I hadn’t heard of. When Kel finds Caspian’s bull terrier, Brut, he decides to borrow him for a little while. It isn’t right, but he has no idea just what adventure it will create for him, and for Caspian, when Brut goes missing and they have to try to rescue him.
The Echidna Near My Place, By Sue Whiting & Cate James (Walker Books, 2022). This adorable picture book made me smile even before I opened it. Look at the gorgeous cover! And the author is one of my amazing author friends, so I knew it would be good. Combines the story of a child and her Nana and their encounters with a local echidna, with facts about echidnas, in a satisfying blend – with stunning illustrations by a new-to-me illustrator.
The Wearing of the Green, by Claire Saxby (Walker Books, 2022). Another book by one of my closest author-buddies. Of course it is hard to be unbiased when you love the authors as much as I love Claire and Sue, but I do what I can. And Claire’s way with bringing historical fiction to life is wonderful. The story of an Irish orphan and her life in colonial Victoria. I was very late to bed the night I read this – I had to finish it before I could sleep.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle. Continuing my listening of the audio collection, read by Stephen Fry. It’s been months since I started listening to the complete works, and I still have more to go, but I’m not sick of it yet.
The Gallerist, by Michael Levitt (Fremantle Press, 2022). Set in Perth, this is part mystery, part later-life romance, set in Australia’s art world, with the main character a gallerist who sets out to investigate the provenance of a painting.
After Darkness, by Christine Piper (Allen & Unwin, 2014). It wasn’t deliberate that I read two books about internees this month (see Interned, above), but it was interesting to see two stories, one from young people’s perspectives and one from an adult one. Tomakazu is a Japanese doctor who is interned in South Australia during WW2, but we also follow this backstory, gradually learning of his past in Japan. Well woven.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle. My second Sherlock for the month. Still three more go to have read The Definitive Collection. It’s a marathon, but I’m still enjoying it.
The Silence of Water, by Sharron Booth (Fremantle Press, 2022). Not an easy read in places, because of its subject matter, but absorbing and beautifully written. A fictionalised story of a real man, Edwin Salt, a convict sent to Western Australia for the brutal murder of his wife and, importantly, the story of the impact of his actions on that wife, Mary Ann, and three generations of Salt’s family.This brings my total for the year to 24. Still a way to go to reach my goal of 153 for the year – but there is indeed a lot of the year to go. Onwards and upwards.
What have you been reading?
As I left the beach this morning I smiled at another swimmer who had also just got out.
‘Don’t you feel like a new person?’ she asked.
‘Absolutely!’ I replied. ‘I’m a much nicer person when I’ve been to the beach’
We chatted a little more, and I filled my new friend in on the names of the some of the fish she had seen, and I left smiling.
Back home, I pondered what I’d said though. Maybe it’s sad that I’m not always nice, but I also think it’s worth celebrating when we know what our happy-place is, and we seize opportunities to go there. Because if it makes me happy, makes me feel nicer, then chances are it also benefitting those around me.
And, of course, this generated this poem draft:
The Many Faces of Me
Before I head to the beach
I am cranky-me
Busy-me
Overloaded-with-thoughts-me
When I reach the beach
I am breathe-in-salty-air-me
Rush-to-get-in-water-me
Slightly-awkward-landbound-me
In the water
I am look-at-this-me
Look-at-that-me
Wonder-awe-and-peaceful-me
When home time comes
I am happy-me
content-me
Feel-like-a-new-person-me.
Hope-this-feeling-lasts-me.
and this, in turn, generated a further thought – I’m also a nicer person when my creativity is flowing. Any day with a swim and a chance to write is a great day.
If you don’t have the chance to immerse yourself at the beach today, here’s a video from a few weeks ago that might help.
And, when I went looking for that video I remembered this one – made when it was too cold to swim, but when I was happy just to dunk my toes:
I hope you have happy toes. In fact i hope you’re happy all over.
The thing that is going to make me happier today is visiting all my poetry loving friends. It’s Poetry Friday and 0 is hosting 0. I’m off to 0, and you can swim along.
It’s Autumn here, and the rosemary hedge in my front yard is looking, smelling and sounding divine.
Sounding? Yup! My hedge is humming with the happy song of hundreds of bees, who love the rosemary as much as I do, it seems. It’s a lovely sound.
And with so many flowers to choose from, it’s a bit like a bee buffet, bees bustling from flower to flower, as if they want to sample every one.
Bee Buffet
I can’t decide
where to sit
from table
to table
I buzz and flit.
(Sally Murphy, 2022)
I went looking for another poem to go with this one, from my archive. I was surprised that this seems to be my only other poem with a bee-reference, although I’ve written several about flies, spiders and ants.
Pool Bugs
The pool is for people
So why do dragonflies
Dip and dive
At the edges
From dawn until dusk?
The pool is for people
So why do bees
Buzz and bustle
Near the steps
Busily bumbling?
The pool is for people
So why do wasps
Whizz and whir
Scaring little kids
As they wildly wing?
The pool is for people
So why don’t the bugs
Just buzz off now?
(Sally Murphy, 2014)
Not that I necessarily want the bugs to vanish – but it actually makes me sad when I find a bee in my pool, because they often drown. Unless I get there first with my net to rescue them, of course.
I do love autumn and the signs of life that re-emerge after the harsh summer heat. Something else I love is Poetry Friday, where I get to buzz around and see what my fellow poets have bene up to this week. You can hum along, by checking out the roundup, this week hosted by Ruth. 