Howdy, Casual Ramblers!

I wrote a lot of poetry in January. I just didn’t do a great job of sharing it on social media, though. Mainly because my awareness of how awfully Instagram effects on my ability to stay focused precludes any desire to use them.

But I did write. In Melbourne, in Brisbane. Amid town squares and fire circles. And deep within LED jams that took place not quite in the bush, but close enough.

I wrote for myself and I wrote for friends. And while some have been lost and others were made for their person and no one else, I still reached a level of output that felt like this whole poetry thing was meant to happen.

The typewriter I bought in St. Kilda? It’s returned with me back to Oregon. And I have not stopped writing with it since we landed. It’s orange form has become my main squeeze until I can clean my rusty Olivetti.

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Anyhoo, I’ll stop my gushing.

All of the poems below are raw, some more than others, but all of them capture (in chronological order) where I was and what I felt had taken place.

Here’s a reason each of these poems is special to me:

1. “Dog in the Water” was the first poem I wrote at Spinfest, two hours west of Melbourne. I wrote it while I sat next to a small pond by the aerial rigs, taking a break from all the workshops. One of the local dogs loved jumping in the water and trying to eat it with each splash as it swam.
2. “Write Here” was a prompt that popped into my head while at work, and I decided to give it a go during the LED jam at Spinfest.
3. “Trick of the Mountaintop” was a request from two young friends in the LED Jam circle. They wanted a poem that spoke to the feeling of “nailing a trick.” I don’t know if I nailed that sentiment, but I approached it as close and as well as I could.
4. “Smokin’ Joes” was written after a fire jam in Melbourne, at a local pizzeria that was still open at whatever ungodly hour we decided to drop in.
5. “Brisbane, the Airport” happened while I was waiting for my group to arrive in Brisbane. I had flown ahead early on a different flight and had some spare time to kill, so I wrote a couple poems.
6. “Pagoda” was written on the South Bank of Brisbane next to a pagoda that my friend, Koa, and I stumbled upon in a Japanese garden. The Peace Pagoda, as it was called, was intricately carved, with a babbling fountainhead aside it. I just plopped down next to the waters and began typing. This is probably the 10th draft of the poem that I made, but its the one I tried to model closer to the original.
7. “After the Sale Was Made” was written late in evening, deep in the Brisbane CBD. I wrote it while Koa, Pyro and I span and rolled cigarettes under an LED palm tree that looked like it was plucked from the Playa at Burning Man, then burned the bottom of the page with a lighter for effect.
8. “Finally, the Storm” was written on the patio of our AirBnB in the South Bank. It had been threatening to pour for a couple of days and finally decided to give it a full drenching. I wrote this final version while Koa and Pyro went to pick up the rental before we left for the Gold Coast.
9. “This Just In” is a preliminary version of the poem I performed at my first ever Renegade Show to close out Spinfest. The first version percolated during the LED Jam, and I ironed it out in two more editions before settling on a version adapted to Spinfest. There’s a video of me performing that version somewhere, but for now enjoy the version that gave me a clearer picture of the structure.

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I’d like to give thanks to my wonderful patrons, Jennifer, Julie, Michael, Zero, Roshi and Phil, as well as the many free members of the Casual Ramble. Without you, everything that has been would not be and everything that is to come would not happen. This post was released a week early to my Patreon supporters, if you’d like to receive early access to poetry, short films and other works, you can join the Casual Ramble Patreon via the link below!

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