Echidna Tracks Issue 1

Places We Live: Cities, Suburbs, Towns

Echidna Tracks Issue 1: Places We Live: Cities, Suburbs, Towns

Echidna Tracks: Issue 1: Places We LIve: Cities, Suburbs, Towns (May - Septem-ber 2018)

These poems were all based on experiences of life in Australia, and were originally published, one a day, on Echidna Tracks Australian Haiku website: https://echidnatracks.com as Echidna Tracks: Issue i: Places We Live: Cities, Sub-urbs, Towns from May to September 2018. The full edition including imagery may be found on the Echidna Tracks website.

Editorial: Lyn Reeves, Simon Hanson, Lynette ArdenCover Art: Lynette ArdenBook and website design: Lynette ArdenEchidna Tracks Australian Haiku website: https://echidnatracks.com

Copyright All written and graphic work appearing in Echidna Tracks: Issue 1: Places We Live: Cities, Suburbs, Towns (May - September 2018) is protected under Copy-right Laws and may not be reproduced, reprinted or re-transmitted or altered in any form without express written consent from the authors.

Lynette ArdenGavin AustinIzabella BaszczynNicki BlakeEido BoruRobyn CairnsDawn ColseyLance ConveyMariela Coromoto HernandezJan DobbMarisa FazioLorin FordBeverley GeorgeMark GilfillanLorraine HaigSimon HansonLouise HopewellJanet HowieMarilyn HumbertJudith E.P. JohnsonColleen KeatingMyron LysenkoFinbar MacDonaldMarietta McGregorIrene McGuireJoe McKeonPeter MacrowMargaret MahonyMark MillerRon C. MossLeanne Mumford

Jan NapierElizabeth NichollsGiddy Nielsen-SweepPauline O’CarolanGregory PikoMadhuri PillaiVanessa ProctorLyn ReevesCarol ReynoldsDuncan RichardsonKent RobinsonCynthia RoweMaureen SextonSamantha Sirimanne HydeRose van SonJennifer SutherlandBarbara A. TaylorJulie ThorndykeGail WillemsJane WilliamsQuendryth Young

Haiku Authors

6

yet anotherurban haikuon love

Lynette Arden

roadworksamber lightambers the rain

Simon Hanson

crowded malla stranger’s handtouches mine

Lyn Reeves

sickle moonover the city clatterhoming corellas

Lynette Arden

7

morning mist the magpie’s notes drift through peak-hour

Gavin Austin

office towera hawk’s image slidesover glass

Gregory Piko

traffic lightsa flurry of leavesflows through

Lorraine Haig

60s office blockan open windowflashes sunlight

Peter Macrow

8

on the footpatha fledgling’s last flight

Irene McGuire

city temple between the chantinga buzz of traffic

Samantha Sirimanne Hyde

city high-rise a seagull skims the traffic gridlock

Cynthia Rowe

seagulltwo wingbeats in front of a bus

Jan Napier

9

different facesthe beeps of bus cardssound the same

Jan Dobb

airport taxi ranka driver unrolls his prayer rug

Jane Williams

my morning trainfills slowly with commuters and sunshine

Izabella Baszczyn

sunset a purple balloon swingsover Carlton

Finbar MacDonald

10

inner city rainthe neon girlstill skipping

Jennifer Sutherland

red light districtslumped in the stairwella naked mannequin

Mark Miller

urban moon —a nankeen night heron fliestowards the stars

Marisa Fazio

‘opening soon’six month old headlinescover the window

Irene McGuire

11

apartment livinghis balcony windowstill closed

Rose van Son

apartment livingbreathing inthe neighbours’ lives

Pauline O’Carolan

next dooranother high-riseneighbours I will never know

Margaret Mahony

apartment lifeI know my neighbours by their footfall

Jane Williams

12

dog friendly parka touch of the local tintin our accents

Madhuri Pillai

traffic lightsputting my trustin a stranger

Quendryth Young

morning lighta rainbow archesthe Harbour Bridge

Mariela Coromoto Hernandez

the inner lightfrom a city church . . . crimson sunrise

Ron C. Moss

13

Swanston Streeta sparrow flies outof McDonalds

Jennifer Sutherland

main streetthe bakery awningraspberry and cream

Gavin Austin

first visitto the fish market -words she never knew

Gregory Piko

supermarket . . .outside the entrancea refugee appeal

Jan Dobb

14

rainbow lorikeetspurpling their eager beaks with lilli pilli

Nicki Blake

along the streeta brush turkey familymaps boundaries

Marilyn Humbert

suburban libraryevery computer surfingthe world wide web

Marisa Fazio

telephone wires —the birdsstill use them

Robyn Cairns

15

galahs tangled in telephone lines —the scent of rain

Kent Robinson

centrelink dayqueues and questionsforty too old

Eido Boru

back to schoolthe cat licks Vegemitefrom the jar

Vanessa Proctor

a sudden dazzleof schoolyard asphaltspring shower

Jan Dobb

16

in the she-oakthe grey pink screechof galahs

Gail Willems

school canteena peppercorn tumblesfrom the koel’s beak

Cynthia Rowe

skipping schoola tangle of seaweedat the beach

Vanessa Proctor

Maslin Beachwe slip intothe local accent

Joe McKeon

17

Bangaloweven the dogsknow each other

Carol Reynolds

poet singer . . .at the roadside caféhis breeze-kissed strum

Madhuri Pillai

meeting place —bats and jam lovers at the corner fig tree

Robyn Cairns

CWA bee . . .knotting ribbonsknotted knuckles

Marietta McGregor

18

local gardens —under the golden elmanother wedding

Janet Howie

footy fansshuffle through elm leavesfallen scarf

Myron Lysenko

no junk mailsays the letterbox signfront lawn littered

Eido Boru

hard rubbish daythree-legged chair straddlinga rusty Malvern Star

Louise Hopewell

19

decades onthe urge to swing —Hills hoist

Jane Williams

turning mulchbetween my rosesa bandicoot

Marilyn Humbert

battle-axe block—a hatchback with towbar rollsthe garbage bin home

Julie Thorndyke

backyard cricketa silly mid-off positionedin the paddling pool

Ron C. Moss

20

record heata desiccated frogon the patio chair

Vanessa Proctor

outback towna willy-willy drives itselfdown the lane

Quendryth Young

outside Sea Worldprotestors chantempty the tank

Barbara A. Taylor

lakeside hotela pansy decoratesthe grilled trout

Judith E.P. Johnson

21

how he enjoysmy strawberry patchthis fat goanna

Elizabeth Nicholls

led by the nose through Bunningsbrown boronia

Marietta McGregor

first bird on the new birdbathhomely pigeonwelcome

Dawn Colsey

heatwavethe birdbath filled with cat

Maureen Sexton

22

one rose stemto anotherhoneyeater’s song

Rose van Son

rivulet drainpipe2 rats run outchasing bread thrown to ducks

Peter Macrow

before the rainthe tinkling soundof windchimes

Samantha Sirimanne Hyde

creek-side parkold gum tree crownedby a tyre

Duncan Richardson

23

demolition sitea butcher bird percheson the chain-wire fence

Leanne Mumford

emergency roomthe tick tickof the ceiling fan

Mark Miller

a young magpiepaces the back laneevening cool

Leanne Mumford

El Alamein fountainrainbowsin the spray-drift

Gavin Austin

24

Sydney Opera Housetrilling beneath its sailswelcome swallows

Vanessa Proctor

cathedral doors closeda strut of crested pigeons criss-crosses the steps

Beverley George

urban refugeacross the hall the drone of a didgeridoo

Mark Miller

beer garden —each year the tattoos more Japanese

Lorin Ford

25

chook raffleat the RSL clubhens’ night

Lance Convey

gallery stepstourists in a lineamong milling pigeons

Marilyn Humbert

city sundownelongated shadowsclimb the wall

Quendryth Young

Hoffman’s brickworks —green moss climbing overold graffiti

Lorin Ford

26

oil refinery —nearby in the wetlandswaterbirds at rest

Janet Howie

echoes of childhood . . .reassuring tram tracks runcity to Glenelg

Beverley George

moonless nighta bicycle rattlesdown my street

Leanne Mumford

spinning stars . . .the battered Hills hoistloaded with children

Ron C. Moss

27

tour balloons . . .backyard after backyard barking

Lorin Ford

weather forecastwe tune into the mountain

Jane Williams

autumn farmer’s marketeven the olive oil seller cold-pressed

Marietta McGregor

kangaroos feaston white chrysanthemumsmemorial park

Elizabeth Nicholls

28

autumn morninggreen globes of passionfruitheavy on the vine

Julie Thorndyke

misty raina pademelon shelterson the porch Lorraine Haig

dry wintermy kids find in the gardenother kids’ toys

Duncan Richardson

breakfast time old man shaves frozen beeffor the butcherbird

Giddy Nielsen-Sweep

29

cold street turning a corner I meet the sun

Judith E P Johnson

the corner storelong closedderelict Streets sign

Colleen Keating

winter closes in a native mouse nibbleson silky oak drawers

Barbara A Taylor

wrought-iron laceon the terrace house row— clouded moon

Leanne Mumford

30

wintry twilightfrom a library lockergoods of a homeless man

Beverley George

night trainthe brief lives of otherscome and gone

Mark Gilfillan

shipping channel —in silence a cargo vesselglides out to sea

Janet Howie

night trainthe brief lives of otherscome and gone

Mark Gilfillan

cold street turning a corner I meet the sun

Judith E P Johnson

the corner storelong closedderelict Streets sign

Colleen Keating

shipping channel —in silence a cargo vesselglides out to sea

Janet Howie

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