sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: What do poetry and chicken cacciatore have in common?

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Last week I posted about trying to define poetry. With Right Way Down coming out at the end of the month, I am putting lots of time into pondering how to spread the poetry word.

So when it came time to post today, I thought I’d continue the theme, and perhaps look at how else I could write about poetry. I thought I would write a found poem, or back out poem, and headed to dictonary.com to see what the definition of poetry might offer.

What  it offered was a surprising twist.  There were three possible definitions. The first two were fairly straightforward. But the third reminded me that we sometimes call things poetry when they have  ‘ qualities that are suggestive of or likened to those of poetry’.  And there, in italics, was an example: Marcel, that chicken cacciatore was an absolute poem.

Hmm. Not only did I instantly want to eat chicken cacciatore (it’s been a loooong time) but also, my brain wanted to make that cacciatore into an actual poem.  So, instead of a poem about poetry, I ended up sitting down and writing a poem about cacciatore.

Chicken Cacciatore

Rich aroma

fills my nose

my mouth

my heart.

Onions

and herbs

chicken

and tomatoes

and all that rich rich goodness

simmering

on the stove.

Mamma has a recipe

but

when I looked

it was missing

the one key ingredient

I know she uses every time:

Love.

(Sally Murphy, 2024)

So what do cacciatore and poetry have in common? Everything! Carefully put together, with love, to fill up the senses – and, if  they’re well made, leaving you wanting more, whether it’s right now, or tomorrow, or next week.

Me? I want more poetry right now, so I am off to check out the love-filled Poetry Friday roundup, which is hosted by the wonderful Carol. Afterwards, I just might be digging out my recipe book!

Poetry Friday: What is poetry?

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It’s Poetry Friday and I am excited, because it’s also February, and that means in just four weeks the poetry anthology I co-edited, Right Way Down, will be released and head out into the world.

As a result, in between grinning in wild anticipation, I am going to be thinking and writing and talking about poetry A LOT from now until then (and beyond).

I thought I would start this series of posts with some thoughts on what poetry is. I discovered back when I was completing my Doctoral thesis, that while most people have opinions about poetry, few people can neatly define what it is. So, I decided, the easiest way for me to define it was with this poem:

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.

(Copyright Sally Murphy 2016).

 

Later, when I wrote Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose, I  still couldn’t find a better definition, so I put the poem in there as well, along with a shape poem about how poetry makes me feel. This poem had first appeared here on my blog way back in 2014, looking like this:

 

Poetree

has lots of branches

goes out on limbs

takes lots of chances.

Leaves you breathless

when you twig

the poet’s skill

(it’s quite a gig!)

It boughs to nature

oftentimes

leaves you marvelling

at its rhymes.

Grows on you

after a while.

Poetree

you make me smile

(Copyright Sally Murphy 2014).

(You’ll be pleased to know that the amateur drawing I did was replaced in the book by a professionally made one).

While these two poems are different, I think they highlight the two things which, for me, are key in good poetry – the ability to make the reader marvel or wonder at something, and the ability to make the reader feel something.  I  can’t wait to share this book with the world. It will make you marvel at the cleverness of the many poets whose work is featured. It will make you feel all kinds of things, too – you might laugh out loud, you might cry or you might sigh at the perfect way a moment is captured.

I almost can’t wait for it to be released, but because I HAVE to wait, I plan to spend the month sharing lots of poetry related goodness. First, I am off to see what my Poetry Friday friends are up to. The Roundup is hosted by  Mary Lee.

 

Poetry Friday: An Illuminating Gift

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One of the lovely quirks of participating in a holiday gift swap with people on the other side of the world is that things can show up just as you think the holidays are over. In this year’s swap, I paired with two people, so Tabatha’s gift (which I’ve already posted on) appeared before Christmas, but this week my second gift, from Margaret Simon, appeared in my letter box. How lovely!

Margaret sent me the most delightful card, with art by her father, John Gibson. Margaret couldn’t have known when she selected this card that my word for this year would be ‘Pause’, which is why I shivered when I read the verse inside the card: ‘Bring silence and stillness to this season of joy.’ A perfect reminder for me to pause.

Also in the package was a copy of Margaret’s poetry collection, Illuminate which she wrote in response to her father’s annual Christmas cards. John’s art uses pointillism – thousands of tiny dots make up each image. And Margaret has lovingly written a poem in response to each artwork. What a treasure to receive. I am digesting the poems, and the arts, slowly, savouring each as I pause to ponder their wonder.

Margaret also very kindly wrote a poem just for me:

For Sally

I found you under a book avalanche
Where you were happily absorbing
Word upon words
Story upon stories
Filling your cupboard
With timeless treasures.
(Margaret Simon, 2023)

I love that Margaret was inspired (I think) by this Instagram post:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sally Murphy (@sallymurphyauthor)

 

Thank you so much Margaret! And thank you for your illuminating gift. Thanks to to Susan, who is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup. I’m heading over there to see what other poetry goodness is on offer this week.

Poetry Friday: Pause/Paws

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It’s Poetry Friday.  In 2024 I aim to post more regularly –  poetry is so integral not just to who I am as a writer,  or as an educator, but as a person, and the Poetry Friday community is one I really love being part of.

I started the year, as I do most years, by choosing a word that will hopefully guide my actions this year. My Word for 2024 is PAUSE. 

As you can see, I considered lots of other words, taking a while to select a word that really covered what I’m aiming for, but pause feels a good fit.

I plan to pause more to enjoy the small wonders in my everyday life. But also to pause to be more present when I encounter people who matter to me – family and friends. And, in moments of potential overwhelm, I want to remember to pause to breathe and refocus on what is truly important, and to consider how I’m going to meet a goal, or overcome a challenge.

It’s fitting too that pause is a homophone for paws, because George and Narelle both make sure I pause each day – George making sure I enjoy the great outdoors even on days I think I don’t feel like it, and Narelle reminding me that it is absolutely to just take a moment or three to sit and stroke a cat.

In honour of these two, I took a moment to draft a poem about what they bring to my days.

Paws

Busy days

Long days

Tough days and rough days.

Tired days

Wired days

Happy days or sad days.

Meh days

Bleh days

Feeling-not-so-sure days.

Any day

Every day

Is better when you paws.

(Sally Murphy, 2024)

In addition to a word, I have also spent some time this week  setting some goals for my work year, and getting clear on what it is that really matters to me in 2024. And, although I will post about some of those goals in another post, I do keep coming back to wanting to slow down, take time, enjoy my furry friends and my human ones, and pause.

Speaking of friends, Poetry Friday is hosted today by Marcie, who is also sharing her one word for the year. Head to her post to see what other poetry goodness has been shared.

Poetry Friday: Birthdays

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This week, my beautiful friend Rebecca Newman celebrated a significant birthday. She has been a friend of mine for quite a long time, but I have been especially lucky to see that friendship strengthened this year when we worked together as co-editors on Right Way Down, a poetry anthology which is getting ever closer to being out in the world.

This little book had its origins when I pitched an idea at a SCBWI retreat, for an anthology of children’s poetry by West Australian poets. Rebecca was there and she vowed to make it happen. And she did, under the badge of her company Alphabet Soup Books:  getting grant funding, asking me to work with her on editing, putting a call out for poems, securing an amazing illustrator and then, when publisher Fremantle Press suggested a partnership, negotiating that, too.  The final product is going to be something amazing, and I am honoured to have played a small part in it.  But what a powerhouse Rebecca is – and she is an amazing poet and all round nice person, too.

So, it seems apt to dedicate today’s post to Rebecca. I went searching for poems about birthdays and came up with this one, from Christina Rosetti, which I adore.

A Birthday

My heart is like a singing bird
       Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
        Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
         That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
          Because my love is come to me.
Raise me a dais of silk and down;
          Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
           And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
           In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
            Is come, my love is come to me.
Technically, I think this poem is not about an actual birthday, but the feeling of being born (reborn?) when discovering love. In Rosetti’s case, I believe this was probably religious love, as she was a devo0ut Christian. Regardless, I love the rich imagery of the poem, and hope that Rebecca enjoys it too.
You might not know Rebecca, but if you’d like to give her a gift, you could do it by preordering a copy of Right Way Down, the first book with Rebecca’s name on the front cover (I suspect the first of many!). Here’s to Rebecca, and to amazing friendships, and to new anthologies.
Speaking of friendships, I am off today to speak to friends old, new and (hopefully) future at a High Tea for the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust, who have so generously brought me to Adelaide.  Best go and put on my party dress! But I’ll be back later to check out the Poetry Friday Roundup, which is being hosted today by Bridget who, coincidentally, is also having a birthday!

Poetry Friday: Turtle Joy

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Don’t you love coincidences? On Sunday I was lunching with two lovely new friends – Mary Wilson, Patron of the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust (which brought me here to Adelaide), and fellow writer Elizabeth Hutchins. We had a lovely lunch, but I did find myself slapping away more than one mosquito and found myself reciting a rhyme from a childhood favourite rhyme: ‘She snapped at a mosquito.’

Mary asked what the line was from, and I recited the whole rhyme which, I was surprised, neither of my friends knew:

There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.
He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me.
He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn’t catch me.
And that would have been that, except that very next day I strolled through Adelaide’s parks, and came across a little fenced garden. When I entered I found a tranquil oasis, with paths and plants and grass, and a large pond. I sat for a moment – and then realised the pond was inhabited – by not just one or two turtles, but dozens of them.
What a surprise and how mesmerising to sit for a very long time and contemplate their gentle  movements and the way they appeared and disappeared.
And, of course, this led to me pulling out not just my camera, but also my notepad. And, after a while, a  poem draft.
Turtle Pace

Sometimes it feels

like you must

Madly paddle

just to stay afloat.

Others as if

each stroke

moves you

s l o w l y

in the right direction.

Either way

just remember

once in a while

to pop up for air

or to check out the scenery.

(Sally Murphy, 2023)
I’ve certainly been checking out the scenery here in Adelaide, but have also been making really good progress on my  two novel projects. Life is good. You know what else is good? Poetry Friday.  Catherine will be hosting the roundup today, and I’m off to see what other poetry goodies are on offer. See you there.  Before you go, if need more turtle moments, here’s a little collation of my photos and videos.
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