Cafe Poet

Front page of the POST!

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Front page of the Post today

Got some good publicity for my National Poetry Week event happening at Il Lido this weekend!

Check out the article – click read the POST online.

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Cottesloe set to get poetry-bombed this weekend

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We are currently in the midst of National Poetry Week (5-11 September), an initiative by Australian Poetry to WRITE, BUY, SHARE, LIVE and CELEBRATE this engaging artform.

I’ve been the Cafe Poet at Il Lido Italian Canteen, Cottesloe, for the past three months, and I plan to celebrate NPW by dropping a poetry-bomb on Il Lido this Saturday and Sunday. It’s an event I’m calling CHALK LINES.

People having lunch at Il Lido this weekend will find that poetry has crawled across the footpath, leapt onto their tables, squeezed itself into their sugar packets and burst against the walls.

Carol Ann Duffy, Britain’s poet laureate, said, “Poetry is all around us, all of the time.” And this weekend, this literary sentiment is going to become quite literal for the patrons of Il Lido.

Find CHALK LINES on Facebook.

Poem: When Cafe Poets get writer’s block

Poems, Posts

In this untitled poem, a cafe poet struggles to justify the last hour and a half she spent staring at a wine rack.

It’s good to have this time to write

each week; not waiting ’til the time is right

but sitting down and spitting out some rhymes.

I’m of the opinion that it’s a sin to have no discipline,

so this time has a lot of merit. But I think that I could bear it

much better if I could just think of something the f**k to write.

…

I did draw a pretty nice picture of a wine glass.

Not the Mona Lisa.

Cafe Poet update: Putting poetry on the table

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Patrons at Il Lido cafe, Cottesloe, can find poetry tagged on the table vases.

Il Lido Italian Canteen has been kind enough to take me on as their poet-in-residence, and now the fruits of that residency can be seen around the restaurant.

Il Lido decorates its tables with vases of fresh flowers that are changed regularly; some days I’ll be writing under the shadow of purple irises and other days it might be long-stemmed artichoke hearts. They’re just the kind of friendly touches that make Il Lido such a lovely place to go every week.

Now the vases have a new addition: ‘poetry tags’. Every other vase has a tag tied to it, and each tag carries an excerpt from one of my poems. Diners can read a grab of poetry while they eat, and maybe it’ll inspire them to check out some more local poetry.

Il Lido is on the corner of Marine Parade and Forrest Street, Cottesloe. I’m there every week, and I welcome company! To find out when I’m ‘Cafe Poeting’, follow me on Twitter: @perth_massive

Poem: “What Is She”

Poems, Posts

The second poem I’ve written as part of my National Young Writers’ Month writing goal (10 poems before 30 June).

WHAT IS SHE

What is she when she’s at home?

When she unwinds her scarf, when she pulls off her shoes,

what is she when she’s on her own?

Is she a stockbroker, or a dancer?

Is she a cheat, or a chancer?

Is she a tomboy who drives a Lancer?

What is she when she’s on her own?

While she wipes off her make-up, is she surviving a break-up?

Is she someone who’d take up

with a guy who’s no good?

Is she a stuck-up bitch while she looks through the fridge?

Is she unsure which major to take?

Is she good to her mum? Is she someone who bakes?

What is she while she fills up the pot?

Is she a five, or a ten? Is she officially hot?

While she shakes pasta into the boiling water,

is she the dux of her alma mater?

Is she waiting for somebody to call?

Is she painting her house?

Is she having it all?

Is she nice to people who don’t deserve it?

While she stirs in the sauce, is she really “worth it”?

Is she kind, or is her heart a stone?

I want to know what she is when she’s on her own.

What is she while she eats her dinner alone?