Where Would We Be Without Your Love?

This is pretty cool :) Gary Ablett Jnr talks about God on Footy Show.

James 5:16 "Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much".

Psalms 4:1 "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer".

Queensland Poetry Festival

Hi everyone, first of all, just wanted to say a huge thank you to all who come visit my blog. It's a true pleasure to be learning both with you and from you. Life can get busy heaps, but I think it is always important to keep God as the focus, as despite whatever difficulties we would be facing, God is always there; just be open to His grace. 

This coming weekend, I have been humbly invited to perform some poetry readings at the Queensland Poetry Festival. It would be a true delight and pleasure to have you come join if you can. 

Below is an interview with one of the Queensland Poetry Festival committee members. 

Interview: Vuong Pham

Vuong Pham is a Brisbane-based teacher and poet. His first collection of poems,Refugee Prayer, was released in April 2013. Vuong particularly enjoys writing haiku and poetry inspired by God. Vuong blogs at versesoftheinnerself.blogspot.com.au.

Catch Vuong @ QPF 2013 in Language of Light (Sun 25 August, 11am)

Your debut collection, Brisbane New Voices IV – Refugee Prayer has already been a smash hit with Brisbane audiences and your blog posts also indicate continued success with haiku publications and public installations.  So what are you working on at the moment?

Thanks Cindy, Refugee Prayer has been a true pleasure to share with the Brisbane community. I’m currently working on my first haiku book. I have written about 90 solid haiku lined up into my manuscript. In my research of the number of haiku a standard haiku book has, the range is somewhere between 60 to 100 haiku are a good number. Anything less than 60 is too lacking, anything more than 100 is too daunting. By the time I compile the book into a narrative flow, my ‘solid 90 haiku’ will no doubt be condensed to about 70, when I weed out the haiku with a similar theme. For example, I wouldn’t include 5 haiku about the moon in the book; they’d be too similar. So at the moment, I am still generating more and more haiku to fit into the book. And in terms of my options for publication, I have the interest of a respected U.K. haiku publisher, and I was also considering the option of having illustrations in the book, that could add some charm.

I believe you are regular slam poet?  What do you like most about poetry slams and performing your work live?

I like to attend the occasional poetry slam. What I like most about performing in slams and performing live is my haiku. Revealing a moment of pure beauty through haiku is a very satisfying and refreshing feeling. I know it is an under-practiced art, especially in the performance poetry scene, so I like to promote it as a vibrant form (that can shine from the page and into the stage) through tailoring my haiku in a way that has a narrative flow and incorporates audience engagement and humour.

Throughout my years of performing haiku at events, I’m finding people often approach me after the show to congratulate me and mention that I have changed their perception of haiku. My understanding is that haiku is stereotyped as a 5-7-5 syllable constrained poem that only scratches the surface of one’s imagination, and is tailored for the page. So it’s the aspect of challenging stereotypes and surprising audiences that I enjoy. I remember once hearing a Bush poet perform at the Queensland Writer’s Centre, and I must admit, my first thought was “okay, here’s another boring bush poet with a predictable set of rhymes”. Yet, it was one of the most entertaining and funny poems I’ve ever heard performed. The audience loved it and erupted in applause. So we can all take a lesson from this: to challenge stereotypes.

As a lover of poetry and a teacher, what poets do you think all students should be aware of and why?

Speaking of lessons, I think students should be aware of the poets: Basho and Rumi. Basho is a minimalist; his poetry says so much more than what is written in the poem and encourages you to expand your imagination. Example:

my house burnt down
now I can better see
the rising moon

We’re seeing the images of a burnt down house, a rising moon and the poet in the midst of it all. But it says so much more: he’s a positive person, he values nature over man-made things, and that there is ‘life’ after ‘death’. Students will be better off to know Basho’s poetry as it is important to be positive, and find the positives in negative situations, otherwise, it can be dangerous to be caught in a continuous negative thinking loop—which can lead to problematic issues like depression, suicide and so on. Also, haiku is a nature-based art form, and to be writing haiku encourages students to go outside and enjoy the natural world as opposed to watching TV or playing video games, which can be a distraction to their personal development.

As for Rumi, his poetry is very spiritual and encouraging. Students can get a lot of wisdom and spirit from reading his works. Example:

Knock, and He’ll open the door
Vanish, and He’ll make you shine like the sun
Fall, and He’ll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, and He’ll turn you into everything.

Rumi is speaking of the strength and life God has to offer, even when we are at our lowest, God can take away our burdens and raise us up to shine like the sun.

Can you share a poem with us?

I’ll share some haiku:

SEX billboard
more aroused by the cheap
petrol price

half moon
the way light fills
darkness

last night’s rain
keeps a jasmine petal
on the birdbath

door curtain billows…
an angel enters
into my book

searching for truth—
a loose page from the Bible
lifts in the breeze

Newest Haiku Compilation courtesy of my students :)

beauty of a garden
smell of wet grass
mansion holding off storm

Luke

nothing but wind
blows through
the forest

Rohan

brown slide
sliding down
gently

Kaylum

gokarts

Tristen (nice one-word haiku!)

wind slowly moves
with canopy leaves
in the reflected water

Brock

rocky pathways
so many directions
follow the riverbank

Luke

reflection in every mirror
victory awaited a long time
for the logan brothers

Blake

my friends and I play
at school, we hear
the chairs as always

Akasha

i see everyone having fun
i smell all different food
i hear the rhythm of the waves

Hine

trees grow high above
the animals are fearsome
the flowers smell beautiful

Blake

apple in the high tree plopping that way and this way

Seema (nice one-line haiku!)

my best haiku is a rainbow beach

Alyson

glistening sparkles
follow down
the stream

Jazmin

a bird taking off
to survive where
the sun is setting

Adrian

waves crashing
and smashing
till they reach the shore

Trinity

the blue water
swimming in a pond
dripping from mountains

Ivy

juicy fruits
fall to the ground
as the breeze passes

Anon

trees swaying
back and forth
to the winter breeze

Trinity

the fluffy
clouds going
gracefully by

Edden

lily roses
in crystal clear water
through the bridge

Ivy

I look at my reflection
I swish my hand in the water
now I'm gone again

Otto

rough hard rocks
lots of soft dirt
and lots of minute twigs

Neville

sweet aroma
within the
sunny yard

Brandon

your heart is darker
than black hills
his is brighter than day

Steph

in the winter the sun sat quietly

Anon

the rays of the sun
is going
downtown

PJT

the stars float
through the sky
and shine on me

the moon shines
through the faint
soft clouds

Coven

people invited to a
very big excursion when
they are a very famous writer

Hope

on the rainforest pond
each bird and frog
fly and jump on the sun

Joshua

the sun shine the
sand so shiny
and makes it beautiful

Dale

beautiful sun
rays
on grass

Jarrod

hear piano play
like little birds
and trees

Losi

the moon and stars
stay stiff and still
when no breeze comes

Brianna

I slowly
walk home
in the summer nights

Anon

the waves crash on the shore
with some terror bluebottles
and the dolphins play along

Emegen

stiff as steel
the winter
trees stand

Caitlin

water
crashes on the
riverbanks

Brianna

people walk
pick shell
swimming in deep water

Gemma

boats rowing
up and down
in the sea

Jarrod

as i walked
i noticed that
no footprints follow

Rhys

rain shatters
on my face
as I start to cry

Lucas

wind carrying leaves
come take me
far ahead

Shimiah

I jump
pool waves
mimic the ocean

Madeline

beautiful fish
swimming
in glaring pond

Lewis

the beautiful
sun melts on
the sea pan

Birdie

"What Lies between Earth and Sky: Why we must question the reason why we try" -- a poem by Bulukani Mlalazi

Here at Verses Of The Inner Self, we're all about encouraging each other and blessing each other through faith. I was incredibly pleased and uplifted to know Bulu, my mate from church, had been in the process of writing his own poetry inspired by God as he was walking across a bridge one day. "The inspiration of words just came to me in an instant, and then I started to edit the poem in bits and pieces". Bulu said. "Yeah", I nodded, "That's how a lot of poetry is written mate, they can be precious things, and they need careful crafting". I think it's just amazing how God can drop flashes of inspiration into your head in unexpected ways. I think the essence of this poem is really genuine and uplifting, and I have no doubt that people can learn a lot from these wise words Bulu has crafted in his poem, "What Lies between Earth and Sky: Why we must question the reasons why we try". In a world full of distractions, one can get caught into the business of society, work commitments, all these worldly things that we oft depend; yet, they are exactly that, a distraction from God's eternal love. We must not forget that we are citizens of heaven, not to get caught into the sins of the world, that we may seek 'those precious gifts from above' that fills our lives with true joy.

I recently had been going through an experience like this, that Bulu had captured in the poem below. Over the last month, or two, I had been so focused on getting my second book done, I had lost the unending love and grace that God had on offer to me. That month was spent entirely writing and not socialising with God's people, though the manuscript was completed in time, I had really missed companionship and had gone through a stage of spiritual dryness. Safe to say, I feel as though I have become a lot closer to God's presence over the last few weeks, as I have enjoyed the company of many of God's children whether it be in camps, chatting with friends over coffee, at church, etc. I'm ready to feel your awesome and eternal love again God :)

Thank you for your wise words Bulu, I truly feel blessed to have read this piece, and I'm sure many others will appreciate it too!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever" Psalms 107:1

"Don't Waste Your Singleness"... Really enjoyed this bit of wisdom!

Haiku Month

Performing haiku in last year's Nimbin Poetry Festival, I made some valuable connections with people in the Australian creative writing scene. I was contacted via this blog for a sample of the haiku that I read. Then today, I stumbled across some delightful banners that showcased some of my work as part of the "Haiku Month" at Co-West Coworking+Writing Studio, a real delight to be featured amongst some of the masters of the haiku craft including: George Swede, Hakusuiro, Shiki, Zuiryu. Here are some pictures of the banners :) I'll write what Co-West Coworking+Writing Studio said about each banner above each picture...

Haiku month at Co-West - starting with the work of Vuong Pham...

Day three! Thanks Vuong. He read this haiku at the Nimbin Poetry Festival...

Day 4: ... from George Swede

From the masters of the craft...

SHIKI

Enuff said...

The last one for the month - exquisite and immortal...

Lastly, I saw this banner while at Nimbin-- one of my favourite Bible verses in Psalms:

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." -- Psalm 23: 1-6

Do not boast, for it is the grace and gift of God, give glory to Him...

Snapshots

As part of the "Friday Fences" blogroll, I've taken a snapshot of my backyard fence:

This picture of my backyard fence has some history to it. In the foreground is an old chicken pen fence that has been unused since our chickens have left us; it now serves as a sort of trellis for some sun-aspiring vines. The fence in the background is the fence dividing ourselves from the neighbours. Coincidentally, they too have chickens, and, sometimes the odd one flies over to graze our yard. The trampoline has been unused for years now, it takes me back to childhood when we'd laugh ourselves silly just jumping on it. And also a memory of bouncing on it with my brother at Easter, and we were talking about how Mum used to buy us presents in the form of video games whenever we got certificates of Merit at school. How Mum tried to encourage us in our education, and my brother and myself agreed on not to ask for more video games, because back then, we were poor... really poor. As the first generation of migrants from Vietnam, you can imagine all the sacrifices my parents made. Wow, I didn't realise I could say so much on one picture. So the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words", but I better stop there, otherwise, the words won't stop!

I find it lovely that nature is harmonising itself through the years in this photo. The old trampoline is now a sleeping place for my cat, Ramsay, during the day so he can sunbake. The old fence and chicken pen fence is now like a trellis for other plants. On a similar note, my favourite words are "trellis", "petrichor", and "halcyon".

Here's a haiku I wrote a while ago, it appears in my first collection, Refugee Prayer:

our conversation
leans into the trellis...
bursting buds

I submit this haiku as part of the Carpe Diem blogroll.

I hope you enjoyed this flashback post, I'll leave you with a verse from the Bible that spoke to me today: "He reached down from heaven and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters" -- Psalm 18:16.

Love Poems

E.E. Cumming's poem, "i carry your heart" describes well the emotions and experiences I'm feeling at the moment towards someone special. Hmm, I'd best keep it captured in this poem I've written, "All Our Bones & Dust". I'm not the most articulate person in expressing emotions face to face. I'm more of an introverted poet, who captures those emotions and experiences in writing form. Here's a beautifully crafted video of E.E. Cumming's poem, "i carry your heart":