Citrus Fiesta (opoetoo)

Picture by opoetoo

Yellow ode / song of the lemonhearted

Contort my tongue in pressure points
Soon to come undone
To push my teeth right to the edge
And fall into the sun

Bring them back a smokin’
Bleached white like desert bones
Dry and tart and squeaking clean
Seeds of rebirth sown

Let my mouth remember
Every bitter thing
Let my heart soon forget
Every bitter thing

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I was very happy to receive a ‘hat full of lemons in hand’ from an old blogging poet friend of mine. He disappeared from the blogosphere completely one day (we’ve all thought of doing it, but he actually took the plunge) and I have wondered about him ever since.

You may remember him as opoetoo 😉 He has started to blog again over here.

Thanks Mark 🙂

Citrus Fiesta (beeblue)

naughty lemon by bb

LeMondegreen

I thought it really quite absurd
(and way too weird) when I heard
the 70s band Hot Chocolate sing
about the very strangest thing –
wild lemony love in Cadillacs,
the joys of lemons in the sack!

One day it dawned it wasn’t ‘lemons’
of which they sung, but rather ‘heaven’s’
and so the song proved less obscene,
and my mishearing, a Mondegreen

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Original lyrics here – http://www.mp3lyrics.org/h/hot-chocolate/heaven-is-n-the-back-seat-of-my-cadillac/

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Poet and blogger beeblue has presented me with a mondegreen citrus poem and picture – haha – which fits in nicely with a previous blog post.

Thanks beeblue 🙂

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Citrus Fiesta (Graham Nunn)

Orange

Tonight, loneliness or winter
so perfect I cut open an orange
and read your old love letters

these words on my tongue
like salt, reshape flesh and bone
memories:

night-raids & picnic lunches
fingertips & lies as we set sail
for new worlds.

I peel this lucent hemisphere
of orange, watch stars
drop into the valley.

The leaves on the tallest palm
lift and shiver – like the summer dresses
in your closet, you’re opening, somewhere.

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Graham Nunn is a poet, publisher, teacher who blogs at Another Lost Shark. He has published numerous collections of poetry and this poem ‘Orange’ is from ‘Ocean Hearted‘.

Thanks Graham 🙂

Guest Blogger – beeblue

Today I would like to introduce you to a blogger from Australia – beeblue, who blogs ‘life, or something like it, in poetry and photos’ over here. She is also known as bluebee (just to confuse us).

bluebee or not bluebee, that is the question. (sorry – couldn’t resist 🙂 ).

She is a very talented poet (rumoured to have an aunty famous for poetry – I wonder who it could be?), unafraid to dredge the deepest waters for material. Her poetry will make you laugh, make you cry and make you wish you could write better.

Beeblue also posts lovely photographs of trips to places like New York and makes us all very jealous – haha. Now without further ado, the wonderful beeblue will answer my usual two little questions.

Why do you blog?

I started my blog mainly as a way of relieving stress and to balance out what I consider the left-brained nature of my work with a bit of creativity. I’ve dabbled in creative writing on and off over the years and started writing a novel two years ago but don’t really have the necessary time to devote to it given my work and personal commitments. Writing poetry is less time-consuming but it satisfies that need for a creative outlet and helps me to focus on articulating some pre-occupations.

What do you like best about blogging?

I’m very interested in the way people distil their view of the world through their unique manipulation of language. And the fact that people from almost (almost) any global demographic can exchange views and debate on almost any subject is remarkable – it provides a fantastic opportunity to engage with talented and interesting people we would never otherwise meet and I’ve learnt a lot from my experiences with the good, the bad and the downright weird ;-). And the whole meme aspect just blows my mind, too. But what I love most of all is seeing the humour and resilience shine through people’s writing when the subtext indicates that they are struggling with some pretty serious issues – it’s instructive and keeps my faith in humanity hanging on by its fingernails, ha, ha.

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Thanks beeblue 🙂

Visiting Poem (beeblue)

Visiting Poem for 2011 National Poetry Week (beeblue)

Photo by Gabrielle Bryden

Today is the 2nd day of the 2011 National Poetry Week and I was chuffed to receive this poem from the lovely beeblue (female blogger and poet from Sydney, Australia).

Wild Conspiracies

I ask scribbly gum moths:
Why this graffiti on trees?
“Mind your own business,
they’re just doodles, if you please”

I ask a plodding snail:
Why the squiggles on the path?
“There ain’t nothing in it –
I just do it for a laugh”

I ask the sly hyena:
Why the tunnels ‘neath the trail?
“Well! Installation art’s
not only for the snail!”

I ask the bower bird:
Why that hoard of shining bling?
“Oh, poppet, it’s no mystery
objets d’art are my thing”

I ask the primping zebra:
What’s with the barcode?
“Poor darling, don’t you know?
Stripes are back in vogue”

But, you know, I don’t believe them –
It’s a vast conspiracy
It’s clear that they are sending
secret messages to me…

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Thanks beeblue 🙂 A very clever and funny poem.