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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Pelicans and More

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It’s Poetry Friday, at the end of another busy week for me.

I started the week with a writing retreat at Rottnest Island, a beautiful island off the coast of Western Australia. As well as getting some writing done, and having fun with my fellow retreaters (all members of SCBWI), I did a lot of walking, exploring the island and admiring the views and the amazing wildlife. Although the quokka – a small marsupial – is perhaps the cutest and best known animal resident – I was particularly taken with the pelicans, and walked up the beach following this pair as they paddled and fished in the shallows.

Which reminded me that I haven’t yet shared the poem which I have in the newly released Our Home Is Dirt By Sea, a collection of Australian poems for Australian kids, edited by Dianne Bates and published by Walker Books.

The poem which I contributed is called Paraphernalia.

 

Paraphernalia

 

At dawn or dusk

I trudge

cross sandy shore

with rod and reel

bait and bucket

tackle box

knife

and board,

hoping to catch

a fish or two

for dinner.

Pelican

has none

of this paraphernalia,

just one huge beak,

yet he seems to have more luck than me.

 

(Copyright Sally Murphy)

 

If you’d like to see more of Rottnest Island (or Rotto as West Australians call it), I made a photo-story of my walk around the island with my friend Sage Cookson.

 

Happy Friday. You can see the Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche.

 

 

Poetry Friday: Yum!

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It’s Poetry Friday and I have just a quick post today, as I’m having a really busy week.
Last week while I was in Adelaide I bought myself two magnet sets, including boards and magnets, to add to my collection of magnetic words for inspiring and creating poetry. Earlier this week I posted the first poem I created using the sets. If you missed it, here it is:

Magnet Poem

When I got the set out today, I was attracted to the picture magnets and wondered if I could use some of them to inspire a rhyme. Here’s my effort, written in whiteboard marker:

Yum

And, when I looked back through my poems I came across this one written on my old, more staid whiteboard with some of my many other magnet words:Poetry

I look forward to creating lots more poems – simple and more complex – with my new toys.

 

Have a great Poetry Friday. This week’s roundup is hosted by Books 4 Learning. Head there to see links to more poetry goodness.

Poetry Friday: Lunacy

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I’ve been on the road for over a week now. First I flew to Adelaide for a conference of English and literacy teachers, and now I’m in Wagga Wagga for a conference of children’s literature academics. Tomorrow, I fly home, and, while I love travel, I’m ready to head back to my family.

Anyway, last Sunday I attended a session presented by Alan Wright, a teacher and poet who seems to love poetry as much as I do. The session was packed with poetry and poetry ideas, but one form that he mentioned looked like a lot of fun, and the next day I found myself  writing them in a cafe.

I’m talking about lunes, a poetic form which consists of just three lines – the first one including just three words, the second one five, and the third three. The last line should also try to be a surprise or a twist. You can see Alan’s explanation of the form here.

So, I had just been for a walk along the river in Adelaide, admiring the river, the bird life and the sights, so I had plenty of material to write about. What I didn’t instantly realise is that I had enough for a suite of three linked lune, ad with a bit of a nod back to last week’s Poetry Friday post.

So, here goes, complete with pictures (and a video).

Swan on Torrens

A morning walk

Admiring the beauty all around

Chased by goose.

Chased by goose

Wanting his own special souvenir

From this day

Goose

From this day

I will love only you

My beautiful selfie.

Adelaide Salfie

Today’s Poetry Friday roundup will be hosted  by A Year of Reading. Head over there to see  what other poetry goodness is happening across the blogosphere.

 

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.

sallymurphy.com.au