{"id":133,"date":"2017-08-26T06:30:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T20:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/?page_id=133"},"modified":"2017-08-28T23:25:46","modified_gmt":"2017-08-28T13:25:46","slug":"driftwood","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/driftwood\/","title":{"rendered":"Driftwood"},"content":{"rendered":"
Excerpt from \u201cDriftwood\u201d \u00a9 Cynthia Rowe, 2010<\/span><\/h6>\n

\"Driftwood\"Driftwood comprises a collection of Cynthia\u2019s poetry which has won awards or been previously published in literary magazines and anthologies both in Australia and overseas. Many of the haiku and tanka in this volume have been translated into other languages. The ancient Japanese forms of haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun are extensively represented, together with free verse and other traditional poetic structures such as tetractys and cinquain.<\/p>\n

rough seas
\ndriftwood encased
\nin sea spray<\/p>\n

\n

Rose Garden \u2013 a tanka sequence<\/b><\/p>\n

every day
\nmy neighbour visits his wife
\nholds her hand, chats \u2013
\non her demise
\nhe\u2019s still there \u2026 holding, chatting<\/p>\n

two pages
\nstuck together
\nin his eulogy
\nhe mentions her good works \u2026
\nforgets about their children<\/p>\n

planting
\nher ashes
\nin the rose garden
\nhe informs me the flowers
\nwill blossom from her spirit<\/p>\n

\n

Today Larousse – haibun<\/b><\/p>\n

I assess the shadows beneath her eyes, evident since the first day of this semester. The sandy blonde pelt of her head is as matted as the tricot she wears. The ever-fading pattern, paler than pale, is threadbare on the elbows. The grey of her school shirt etches those elbows, already stripped of baby fat. A smear of food encrusts the right cuff. Pumpkin, turnip, maybe pickle from a birthday Big Mac? She hands me a note, ostensibly written by a father I\u2019ve never met. A slipped stitch shows on her waistband. I edge between the rows of desks, pocketing the latest excuse. The words are sketchy, the ink smudged. Her singed eyebrows whisper of things I\u2019d rather not know. I gather up the class sets, today Larousse.<\/p>\n

wintry day
\nthe smell of rain
\non a pink sweater<\/p>\n

\n

smouldering embers \u2013 a haiku sequence<\/b><\/p>\n

fireball
\nleaps \u2026 retreats
\nhurdles the outhouse<\/p>\n

burnt homestead
\na red toy car
\nintact<\/p>\n

pile of rubble
\nthe survivor sobs
\non his mate\u2019s shoulder<\/p>\n

ground zero
\nsun tips the wings
\nof a white dove<\/p>\n

\n

Under the clocks<\/b><\/p>\n

Ribbons of cars glide by in the wet.
\nWithin the eyebrow of time
\nabove the station maw,
\nminutes click over.<\/p>\n

She waits,
\neyes scanning the crowd.
\nAcross the busy intersection,
\ncathedral spires tower.
\nTrains rumble off,
\nhorns ululating through the dank air.<\/p>\n

She frowns,
\nchecks the hands.
\nShoe tapping, the drum sound slows
\nto gentle disappointment.<\/p>\n

New train throbs in,
\ndisgorging a fresh load of passengers.
\nHair flying,
\nscarf thrashing,
\nhe skids to a halt before her,
\nkisses the cold cheek now grown warm.<\/p>\n

\n
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Excerpt from \u201cDriftwood\u201d \u00a9 Cynthia Rowe, 2010 Driftwood comprises a collection of Cynthia\u2019s poetry which has won awards or been previously published in literary magazines and anthologies both in Australia and overseas. Many of the haiku and tanka in this volume have been translated into other languages. The ancient Japanese forms of haiku, senryu, tanka… Read More Driftwood<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiarowe.com.au\/cr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}