sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Hounds and Birds

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Yesterday I had a visiting hound for a few hours. Sos is a big, gentle greyhound, and spent much of the visit sleeping on my loungeroom floor while I worked nearby. At one point, though, a noise made me look up and I laughed to see Sos  running in his sleep. His legs twitched back and forth, his tail straightened and I swear he was smiling.

Sos  was here while his owner was off working, so I’m convinced he was dreaming of  going home and having his daily walk. When Is napped this photo a little while later, I knew I had to caption it,  with a poem.

Dreams of home, dinner

and morning walks play through mind

of a sleeping hound.

(poem and photo copyright Sally Murphy, 2021)

It was only later that I realised I was writing to the same theme as last week’s post where I wrote about echidna’s dream. Perhaps I am slightly obsessed with sleep at the moment?

Something else I am obsessed with is getting poetry out into the world and into the hearts and hands of readers. So I am delighted that today’s Poetry Friday host, Kathryn Apel, has a brand new book out this week: The Bird in the Herd.

When I saw the title of this book, the rhyme just wouldn’t let me go, and I wanted to play with it. This is for you, Kat:

Have you heard

about the Bird in the Herd?

The Bird in the Herd

is good I’ve heard!

So spread the word

about the bird

the bird in the herd

now that you’ve heard.

And, as I played with birds and herds and words, I also started singing, because it reminded me of this song. If you haven’t heard it for a while, you are welcome for the ear worm I am about to give you:

Congratulations Kat for your new book baby!

You can head over to Kat’s blog to learn more about The Bird in the Herd, and to see the Poetry Friday roundup  Muster.  Have a wonderful Friday!

Poetry Friday: First Swim

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It’s Friday which means it’s Poetry Friday.  The weather here has been summerish for weeks, even though Summer isn’t officially here till Sunday.  I love the warm, especially since it gives me an excuse to swim- beach or pool, doesn’t matter, I just love to swim.   But there is nothing like that very first outdoor swim for the season and this got me thinking about how, as a child, I would be so excited when the town swimming pool would finally open for the  season.  The anticipation of that first swim – and the joy of finally jumping in!   Here’s a little poem I wrote a while back to celebrate that memory – and, because I don’t have a photo to go with it, here’s one of my favourite photos of something a little bigger than me having a splash.

 

First Swim     

This whale tail is completely unrelated to all of my books, but it makes me smile.

Summer’s here

and I rejoice

to see the OPEN  sign outside the pool.

Blue water beckons

and once I’ve paid

I dump my towel and rush

to greet my old friend.

SPLASH!

Bliss bubbles and bibbles

as I plunge into icy depths.

 

(Poem and photo  copyright Sally Murphy)

The Poetry Friday roundup today is hosted by  Bridget. Pop by, check out the round up and be sure to wish Bridget a Happy Thanksgiving – she’s far from home as she celebrates.

 

 

 

Poetry Friday: Walking the Dolphins

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Every Friday I have to drop my son at work very early. this is a good excuse for me to have an early morning beach walk – usually at my favourite dolphin-spotting beach. The dolphins dictate how far I walk, because if there are no dolphins (which is rare) I just walk the length of the beach and turn around again. But if they’re there, I tend to walk further, but will change my direction regularly so I can keep them in sight and find it hard to leave the beach while there are dolphins in sight. After these walks I often tell my family I’ve been ‘walking the dolphins’ and, of course, this has lead to a poem.

 

Look closely – there are two dolphins INSIDE the wave, having a ride.

Walking the Dolphins

Some people like to walk their dogs

I see them in the park

From early in the morning

Until late, long after dark.

 

Some dogs on leads; others romp

Or fetch a stick or ball

Some owners watch their dogs from seats

Not walking much at all.

 

Me? I walk the dolphins

The pooches of the sea

Up and down the beach I go

And dolphins follow me

 

I’m on the sand, they’re further out

But I watch them swim and play

Some times they jump and flap about

And sometimes gently sway

 

I hardly note how far I’ve walked

Up and down the shore

Watching cetaceous friends cavort

Just leaves me wanting more

 

And later on it comes to me

As I turn back from the sea

It’s not me that’s been walking them

But they that have walked me.

 

(Poem copyright Sally Murphy 2017)

 

In case you you haven’t seen it before, here’s my favourite bit of video of one of ‘my’ dolphins coming closer to say hello.

 

Have a great Friday. Today’s Poetry Friday Round Up is hosted by Karen Edmisten. SO, to read lots more poetry goodness, head over there.

Poetry Friday: Salfie

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It’s Poetry Friday and I’ve been thinking about selfies: you know, those photos people take of themselves. I got a new mobile phone a couple of months ago, chiefly because I wanted a better camera – and gosh I’ve had fun snapping all kinds of things on my walks, my excursions, and at home.

Like lots of people, some of the photos I take are of myself – and I’ve coined the term Salfie (a bit punny, but there you go). I share these photos on social media, and text them to family and so on, but I always double check that I’m happy with the shot, and am quick to delete those I don’t like. It’s one of the wonders of digital photography – the ability to take dozens of shots and simply delete the ones we don’t like rather than waiting till after the film is processed, as in the not-so-0ld days.

Thinking about this self-editing (or Salf-editing) lead to today’s poem which, since it’s about photos, I’ve made into a Photostory.

 

Have a great Friday. This week’s roundup is at The Logonauts.

Why I Love Poetry Friday

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Speaking at Lit Centre 2015

This is what I was doing last Friday.

I missed Poetry Friday last week because I was off having an amazing time at the Celebrate Reading Conference in Fremantle (did I say amazing? I mean really really stupendously amazing!).

It’s not the first time I’ve missed Poetry Friday since I started doing it earlier this year, and it probably won’t be the last, and there are some weeks where Friday comes and I think “oops” and I rush to get something suitable posted. This week I got to Thursday afternoon before I thought ‘now what am I going to write about this week?’ And, because I was about to rush out the door to do the school pick up, I wondered if maybe I’d give it a miss again this week.

But, as I drove around town doing pick ups, drops offs and errands, I got thinking about why I joined in Poetry Friday in the first place, and how much I’ve learnt from writing posts myself and reading other people’s posts, and the fun I’ve had, and I knew I had to come home and put together this post. So here you have it: Why I Love Poetry Friday

  1. I love poetry. And Fridays. And Poetry Friday celebrates both of those things.
  2. I love discovering new poems, poets, collections, verse novels, poetic forms. There is always something new to discover.
  3. I love the way Poetry Friday puts so much focus on (of course) poetry, which often struggles for air time.
  4. I love the way being part of Poetry Friday encourages me to blog about poetry every week (or nearly every week – and I love that if I miss a week, that’s okay, too)
  5. I love that I am connecting with poets and poetry lovers from around the world on a weekly basis and, as a result learning not just about poetry but about stuff happening in far flung places.

So much love! Which made me think I should finish off with a poem. It’s more than a wee bit corny, but here’s my love poem for Poetry Friday, with apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee for the way you share poetic heights
Of friends and strangers, folk far out of sight
For the joy you give, the peace and grace.
I love thee for the poems of everydays
For offerings shared and read from morn till-night
I love thee freely, as poets strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old joys, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I’ll never lose
With poet’s truth – I love the joy you give,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! – you chase the blues,
I shall but love as long as I shall live.

Okay, it’s a bit OTT, but I do really like Poetry Friday, which this week is being hosted by Write. Sketch. Repeat. Pop over there if you have some time and click though to some of the other wonderful poetry posts.