Artists and Poets
No. 1
Artist: Douglas Patching
Red, white and blue,
the flag waves and
I wave back,
hold on to its colours,
want to
hold on to the flag,
bring it here in my head,
capture its waving folds
on paper,
asymmetrical,
to show how the flag’s
colours muddle
when strong winds blow.
Sally Clarke
~~~~~
“Here Be Dragons”
Compass the courage of
ancient mariners
sail to the edge of
unknown and beyond
mystery dwells
in galaxies birthing
oceanic trenches
deep beyond fathoming
I wonder
Do leafy seadragons
float in dark blue space
between stars?
Liana Christensen
~~~~~
White Tasmanian tiger
your ribcage on show,
mourn your country
with the other ghosts.
Sue Clennell
No. 2 Artist: Adrian Chadwick
“Acrobats of Peony Pond”
Some frogs fly
in tight formation
Some frogs leap alone
Some frogs sit
in contemplation
Each frog to his own
Liana Christensen
~~~~~
like a choir
families gather
in the spring-time
carnival of the park
bend to choose a flower
or collect a spiky cone
how the colours sing
like a choir
on a pink-perfect day
Paula Jones
No. 3
Artist: Barry Tonkin
Making Hay
Spilled haystack,
fired corn-stubble under swimming cloud,
cross-hatchings of three-cornered Earth.
Or let the paint be Earth, Air, Fire
and make a labyrinth like new-blown glass
with strands opaque from flame
to dream a gold transparency,
there, where our limits frame
the dance of our desire.
Jenny de Garis
~~~~~
New Equations
There is mathematics
on the land,
in fire, in the
burning earth.
Stake out
a 3-sided perimeter,
a place, a space,
angles of flickering flame.
Stretch and lengthen
yellow sparks, red coals,
and from the earth-
a new equation.
Paula Jones
No. 4
Artist: Barry Tonkin
Buster the cattle dog
ran like this,
round and around.
moving the cattle
barking,
snapping at heels,
so fast,
swirling red sand
blurring sunlight.
This is how I remember
Buster the cattle dog.
Sally Clarke
~~~~~
Buster and His Larrikin
Sunset explodes on Buster and I
fingers unfurl
embrace us
ageless
through mists of time
The Red Earth Spirit
remembers
Buster
and his larrikin
under the sun
Saz Campbell
No. 5
Artist: Name withheld
on a pink lake
i see pelicans, turtles
swans, ducks
and fluffy ducklings
floating under
white clouds
and a hint
of a blue sky reflection
they are
singing a happy song
flapping their wings
playfully
Maureen Sexton
~~~~~
If I could hold
your beautiful roses
remove petal by petal
from canvas
smell their scent
their soft caress
I would braid them
into a bouquet
return them to you
Deanne Leber