Readings Birthday and Launch: Pioh and I talked about poetry last night. “The sentence is a fact. The word is a metaphor,” he said, amongst many other inspirations and musings. We ate chocolate birthday cake and he soaked a sleeve in red wine. It seemed appropriate. I told him I spent eight years writing a novel in a (metaphoric) basement — was told that the novel was an inferior act. Well, I love poetry, and write a lot of it, but can’t ever really call myself a poet. I think it’s just what kind of fish you are. Pioh is a river fish, and while I swim some rivers, I spend most of my time in the ocean and I think, really, I’m in love with the tides as much as currents. I want to see the Mariana Trench one day (if that’s possible without being utterly crushed) to find routes around both polar caps before they melt, and maybe just sun myself on a drift through Jim Morrison’s Horse Latitudes. But I love the Murray, the Nile and the blue Danube. So I love most of the rivers as well. Cate Kennedy was sweet, as always; and nervous. Her new book is coming out soon. But yeah, there’s reason to be nervous. The long awaited novel. Emerging out of the shadows of the specialized success of short stories ain’t easy. I felt like saying, don’t do what Orpheus did Cate. Don’t dwell at the lip. Don’t look over your shoulder. There were speeches and conversations. For those of us much deeper in the shadows, there’s still the thrill of talking about Ukulele playing with Helen Garner. Sadly she can only play a few chords and wanted to play Johnny Cash songs. I’m a pretty good guitar player Helen and can play a kick arse version of Folsom Prison. I wanted to offer her lessons because you can’t play Cash on Ukulele, and I don’t have a pretty singing voice, but I got that drawl down pat. Maybe one day me and Helen Garner will play guitar together. I’m just putting it out there. All kinds of big names drifted around but I don’t drop names for the sake of it, though I’ll say Sophie Cunningham is prettier in person than you’d think from her pictures and Shane Maloney less mild mannered or pleasant than Murray Whelan. This went down at the State Library, but they actually kicked us out at about nine. All of these writers, publishers, agents, editors, readers and booksellers driven out onto a wet Swanston Street. Someone declared a ‘Fresh Universe’ outside while another confessed that he’d had a bloody nose since Friday.
* For a less fictionalised version of Pioh, please check comments.
This is a very entertaining diary entry/prose poetry from the self-defined non-poet. Love the 'soaked his sleeve in red wine'. The metaphor for the so called 'real poet' versus one who maybe more inclined toward other types of writing is excellent.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Gabrielle. Maybe I should clarify. I write poetry and in that way, yeah, sure, I'm a poet. It's just when you're in the presence of someone like PiO, Maxine Clarke, or alicia sometimes, that you hesitate to announce it so easily.
ReplyDeleteNo need to clearify - I know exactly what you mean, that is why it is such an effective metaphor. As an aside - better hurry before the polar caps melt (given yesterday's bazarre weather - 35 degrees at the tail-end of winter in outer Brisbane).
ReplyDeleteLots of fishyfish in that particularly ocean. You are a gifted story teller with a very unique and subtle tone, kind of humble and strong at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIn the interests of accuracy, I asked Pioh to read my post, and he responded thusly:
ReplyDelete"Thanxxx for the alert.
Some clarification: I think I said something like (or at least thought I had) that I treated the SENTENCE as a FACT but used it as a METAPHOR. I'm not fussed tho… nor do I consider blogs seriously enough to want to have them "corrected" / they're not accurate to start with especially translated from an oral culture like a party, and TRUTH SEEKERS are foolish at the best of times
akin to POWER MONGERS I woukld suggest."
In regard to my basement novel Pioh said:
"think I said (at the party) or at least intended to
That you shouldn't occupy yourself with such TRIVIAL "genres" like the novel or prose."
An honour for me to even have personally addressed words from this inspirational Australian Poet.
Many thanks Pioh.