At the launch by Robyn Mathison of Peter Macrow’s chapbook
Waiting for the Mountain.
Republic Bar and Café, North Hobart
Robyn’s launch speech
For those of you not familiar with Yasunari Kawabata’s novel The Sound of the
Mountain, I’ll quote briefly from the cover blurb on the Edward Seidensticker
translation of that book.
‘From the hills beyond his garden, there sounded in Shingo’s ears the murmur
of approaching death. Muffled and foreboding, it mingled with his uncertain
emotions…his feelings as he endures the avalanches of insults of advancing
age.’
The sound of the mountain is ‘the murmur of approaching death.’ This, along with
death itself, and how to deal with grief, are important themes Peter Macrow explores,
or which underlie the ten suites of short poems in his Picaro Press chapbook, Waiting
for the Mountain.
But the poems are also about writing and the way words are used, about poetry and
criticism, and they include references to the work of other poets. These include Lyn
Reeves, M.T.C. Cronin, May Carroll, Kathryn Lomer and Federico Garcia Lorca.
There are other literary connections, such as the small poetry journal, Blue Giraffe,
which Peter edits and publishes, and there are references as well to other art forms and
philosophies, including Feng Shui.
Those of you who know Peter’s previous books, or who have heard him read here at
the Republic will be familiar with the subtle, often wry way he uses language and the
strength of his images, especially in haiku. You’ll find plenty of examples of his
particular skills in the 16 pages of his collection.
For instance, look at the last two lines in part 2 of ‘Shells’ on page 1:
glass table aluminium and glass so chic so post-modern
shells writing on water deconstructing light
or part 2 of the ‘Blue Firaffe’ sequence on page 5:
Polishing the silver in the half-light,
the sugar basin, though it’s just for show,
under the handle, inside the lid,
where the darkness will still hide.
or the shadows of death in the three-haiku sequence ‘black’ on page 10. Here’s part 3:
late autumn
through mountain cloud
black wings
I could go on choosing more and more examples to illustrate what I’ve said and
persuade you to buy your own copies of this chapbook; but without further ado, I’ll
declare Waiting for the Mountain launched and ask Peter to read some of his work
for us.
© Robyn Mathison
July 5, 2009
Peter’s Reading
My first book was 80 previously published haiku, my second, 40 short poems in plain English, most of which I thought almost anyone could understand. Waiting for the Mountain: 3-part Suites, might be more for writers, those who like to see what can be done with and to language.
I’d like to read 3 things: a Suite, and 1 poem from each of 2 others.
The first was published in Australia, on-line, at Stylus Poetry Journal.
Red Leaf
1
6 boxes
a letter from one
on mine a maple leaf
red of course
involuntary puns
thinking in words
red leaf
cold wind
2
with ear plugs in
I can still hear
my false teeth squeaking
like a cypress in night wind
the bed in the next room
and other intimations
of death
3
Spinoza was concerned
about the mental life of stones
And my mothers ashes,
what of them?
The last part was translated into French and published in Belgium in microbe.
Next, I’d like to one of the ‘Word Pictures.’ This one was first published in a chapbook in a chapbook. Trying to be here was 14 of my poems at the centre of RePUBlic Readings #7, edited by Liz Winfield. It is also on-line at The Write Stuff. The poetry part is edited by Anne Kellas; the Tasmanian Poetry Showcase has 40 poets and my section has 24 of my poems. Some of my best work.
In this Picaro chapbook version the 2nd last line is missing. My fault. I checked my manuscript. I left it out. I’ll put it back in here, though I guess if the poem doesn’t make much sense, it won’t make much difference!
Can’t Win
sounds like losing
(It’s in several parts)
pre-natal - growing up - performing - loss - death
sss-loor-rrr-shh
oor-rr-ree-shh
uh! uh!
mmmEErbitoov
It?!
ping
pong ping
twang - uh - ping
uh - smash - oh - uh
damn!
sshh!
hsss!
sshh!
no______
I can't
beeeEEErp - eerp - eerp
Eeeeeeerp______
can't win
To close, I would like to do the middle poem from the Lorca Suite. It was published on-line at alba. It has 2 dates: 1919 and 1926. The latter refers to a letter where he says: ‘But now I want to marry. Just imagine!’ Well, he could marry, but I guess he couldn’t have children as he was homosexual. That is probably a biographical impulse to much of the cosmic anxiety, which he transmutes through images like ‘dead moon’
and ‘garden of lunar grapefruit’.
1919 is the date of a Madrigal which starts:
Yo te miré a los ojos
cuando era niño
y bueno…
I looked into your eyes
when I was a boy
and good, but now
I want to marry! Just imagine,
a yellow wind to lift your skirt,
your gypsy hair a nest of crystal
across the black bull skin of night –
the dead moon
my paper mouth
your scarlet laugh.
So, Waiting for the Mountain: 3-part Suites, is $5. At the launch here of my previous chapbook we sold 35 copies. Hint, hint!