Poetry on the Go — TramsEnd Poets Loud and Live

The Power of Poetry

TramsEnd Poets’ reading, The Power of Poetry, in Brighton Council’s lovely Kingston Room on 18 March 2021 was full of unforgettable warmth and energy. We thank Holdfast Bay Library Services for giving our wonderful poets the chance to share their work with friends and library members. Glenelg’s brilliant red heart foreshore sculpture has cast its spell on TramsEnders, and it shone on the day.

As TramsEnd Poets founder and convenor, I thank everyone for making this public event so successful. And, to our poets, one and all, thank you for taking the time to contribute not only to the event but also to this page.

About TramsEnd Poets

In its fifth year, TramsEnd Poets meets monthly in the Glenelg Library’s Common Room to share our work and offer rigorous but supportive critique. Many of our poets are published, so the standard is high. For The Power of Poetry, two former members joined us as guests, Ivan Rehorhek (best known as Avalanche), a founding member with me, and Maria Vouis, now a periodical pop-up visitor who agreed to take on the heavy lifting as MC.

Our third guest, commissioned photographer and fellow poet Martin Christmas, kindly agreed to read as well. Like his poetry, Martin’s photography is well known among Friendly Street Poets and others in Adelaide’s poetry scene, and we thank him for all the photos here, except the one of him taken by Nigel Ford (with Martin’s camera).

On the day, each poet read for three minutes, a mix of sad, funny, inspiring and evocative poems received enthusiastically in their diversity. Because an hour of poetry would have been far too much to include here, I asked each poet to submit one short poem and a sentence about themselves to include on Wattletales for posterity.

Poet Pics and Poems Two by Two

Inez Marrasso tells us she finds joy in rhythm and rhyme, dance and song.

Pam Rachootin is a General Practitioner who, as her poetry attests, looks for the humorous and poetic side of medicine.

Nigel Ford is a crew-cut-haired, goatee-bearded, tattooed, Harley-riding crime writer who discovered his passion for poetry at 50 and who would turn up to the opening of a bottle of beer even if he wasn’t invited. For more about Nigel and his poetry on Wattletales, click here.

Lindy Warrell (that’s me) writes of random moments and disturbing things, some of which may elicit a chuckle.

If I may interpolate with an observation, the first four poems, eclectically sorted by me, seem to have a commonality that speaks to the human condition, albeit in very different ways.

The next four poems all show reverence for our natural world.

Shaine Melrose loves to share her daydreams of life and nature through poetry. Read more about Shaine and her poetry here.

Vladimir Lorenzon describes himself as a poet in retirement who enjoys expressing and exploring life in words.

Valerie Volk loves to write about people and places she knows, and, with Friedrich Nietzsche, says:  Poets are shameless with their experiences: they exploit them. You can visit Valerie’s website here.

A retired engineer and aviator, David Harris likes to write about nature and humanity and explore some things with wry humour.  He has published two anthologies.

The last four poems in this wonderful collection are more representative of urban life. Two speak directly of love and loss.

Avalanche tells us that the stories still follow him around or, he asks, is that the other way round? You can read more about Ivan on this site here and also on his website.

Maria Vouis is besotted with dogs, and you can see more about Maria’s doggies here. Her work has been widely published, including in the Newcastle Poetry Prize, SCUM and Canberra Times.

Maria Comino has been writing poetry naturally since about the age of 10 but was not aware of the gift it was at the time.

Martin Christmas, the ESP Travelling Showman, ‘channels’ the spirits of his photographic subjects (people and landscapes) to reflect an in-the-moment reality, dramatically or casually, without seeming to have ‘posed’ subjects for the camera. His personal journey is on Wattletales, here.

Final Words

I am so grateful that TramsEnd Poets is made up of such a wonderful bunch of poet-people willing to share their work.

Let me end with this photo of the great audience with whom we shared our poetry at Brighton. That’s me in the distance, introducing the gig as the lovely Valerie flashed on the rolling screen of readers’ photos behind the lectern.

Have a Go

I normally end Wattletales posts with a writing tip. Today, I’ll keep it brief.

If you have ever yearned to write poetry, the time to start is now —

Write unfettered about a key moment in your life — a turning point or ‘sliding door’ moment. How did that change your life? Write until you naturally come to a stop.

Select seven words that jump up at you from the page, then craft a single line against each of those words and see what happens. (You may need to let go of the meaning of the event you started with but trust the process.)

Don’t worry that it makes no sense; magic will take place if you let it. Take the blinkers off, deafen yourself to the editor in your mind and play with those words and lines. You may surprise yourself.

Over and Out for April

Wattletales

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ESP Travelling Showman, Martin Christmas for all photos used in this piece.

Nigel Ford for taking the photo of our photographer.

Previously Published

‘Jailbreak’ by Inez Marrasso, Inez, in The Champagne Smile (2020)

‘DogKu’ by Maria Vouis appears in Friendly Street’s New Poets 19 (2018)

‘Natural Selection’ by Martin Christmas in Random Adventures, Ginninderra press (2019)

‘Intensive Care’ by Maria Comino in The Desert Speaks: Collected Poems, Thoughts and Dreams (1970-2000)