A roaring fire and two glasses of red

The Louis Joel Poetry Pod aims to be a forum for discussion about poetry, what people like and what they don’t and why. A strong emphasis is placed upon making poetry accessible and fun with a diverse range of writers, forms, media etc. Each podcast will have interviews with poets, with people who convene poetry
appreciation groups, with editors or producers of poetry magazines and perhaps most importantly with members of the community outlining some of their favourite poems or song lyrics, and why etc. 
The latter is a segment we are calling Hobson’s Choice as it reflects our little beachside community in Altona in the Hobson Bay area just to the west of Melbourne, Australia’s CBD.

In our seventh episode we return to where we began, with Dave and Col interviewing Peter and taking a deep dive into three poems. Whilst this tends to be a serious adventure there is a place for humour – perhaps a different way of looking at some pertinent topics around diversity and a close examination of the part a certain piece of furniture plays in all our lives. This episode, unlike the last, is free of venereal disease.

Following this we are fortunate enough to be able to interview noted West Gippsland poet, Rodney Williams. He also provides three important poems of his as well as some genuinely educative insights into certain forms of poetry – most notably the
triolet and the villanelle.

Rodney and Peter have been great friends for decades and during that time have spent countless hours reading and discussing poetry, frequently with a glass of red in hand and a roaring fire.

Hobson’s Choice returns with an interview with Eloise Wilson who reads a poem from one of our favourites!

We would like to hear from you! 
As part of our Hobsons Choice segment, we would like to hear from you, even while we are on a break!  If you would like to be interviewed about a poem or if you just want to share your love of poetry, send us an email on ljacpoetry@gmail.com. Constructive criticism and praise are most welcomed!

 

Poems discussed in this episode:

West by Peter Roberts

https://inreview.com.au/inreview/books-and-poetry/2024/09/04/poem-west/

The Spectrum Strikes Back by Peter Roberts

https://beatnikcowboy.com/2023/08/10/peter-roberts/

Bed by Peter Roberts
...the near approach a bed may show of human bliss to human woe.
Samuel Johnson

1/.

It is said that those who hate to go to bed
fear death and those who hate to get up
fear life. Still, he didn’t move in the laser
sun of the morning. Her words had stung
him. ‘Don’t you get sick of saying thank you!
Try doing something for yourself!’ He had
wanted to be a moving target instead of a
sitting duck. The bed wrapped its tentacles
around him – like a refuge or a gaol.

2/.

This was the moment she adored as the
opiates kicked in. She was blind-sided by
the diagnosis, shattered by the prognosis.
The large window afforded her a view of
the world in all its hues – moving slower,
but vivid in a way she never imagined. She
was fortunate it seemed . Managed pain,
comfy bed. Her children were conceived
here in joy. She wanted to do it all again!

3/.

It just felt so disparate, so wonderful.
To be sure he had fantasised for many
years about this evening, but convinced
that it would never occur. They had met
sometime prior, but when the invitation
came he was shocked, elated, and full of
trepidation in one moment. After they
departed he snuggled under the covers,
a letter placed in an envelope, finally sent.

Case Moth by Rodney Williams

In a brotherless boyhood
I felt enthralled each time
I found the covering
to a case moth
holding on tight
to some fence or shed
adhered and suspended
as a caterpillar set to poke
a gleaming black helmet – head
out of its cocoon
only sometimes
if I were lucky
glimpsing that fat grub
its moth seldom seen as well
sporting white wings spotted dark
this larva at times demeaned
when labelled as a bagworm
its casing camouflaged with twigs
that it could grow itself
from this expanding sheath
brown as any shrub-bark
with so much of its lifespan
spent in such a state
its best days coming
before it matured
hiding itself while
prominently disguised
as a youngster
perhaps like me
I’d wonder...

From Muir Woods to Walhalla

https://www.mascarareview.com/rodney-williams/

 

Beneath stage lights by Rodney Williams
I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be’
- T.S. Eliot, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’

It’s not my place to invent soliloquy
Outside lines in a script, I don’t improvise
Beneath stage lights I’m given a me to be

In no cutting-edge shows, far more repertory
With bit-parts in classics again dramatised
It’s not my role to present soliloquy

At best an understudy there’s no envy
Despite hoping when young for signs in the skies
Under spotlights it’s now cameos for me

An old hand in the corps of this company
With its proscenium arch I don’t surmise
It’s not my part to vent in soliloquy

The dressing-room mirror hears my own story
Before make-up & costumes provide disguise
Through follow-spots I’m given a me to be

With no statuette from an academy
Still to tread these boards is my career’s gold prize
Beyond my scope float dreams of soliloquy
Beneath stage lights I’ve still got a me to be

 

Credits: 
Hosts: Peter Roberts, David Tredinnick  Colleen Murphy 
Original music composed by Andrew Gilpin and Sam Price. 
Hobsons Choice Guest: Eloise Wilson
Podcast Coordinator: Colleen Murphy
Editor: David Tredinnick

Announcements: 
The Fortnightly Pier Poetry Group at Louis Joel Arts & Community, facilitated by Peter, is on at 11am on Fridays with the next meeting occurring on 29 November .Come along if you love talking poetry.  
Email ljacpoetry@gmail.com to register your interest. 

Full Spring program of the Louis Joel Arts & Community Centre Programs & Events can be found here: 

https://www.ljac.com.au/louis-joel-gallery/whats-on/

This will be the final Louis Joel Poetry Podcast for 2024 as we take a break in December and January 2025.  We look forward to hearing from you over the break!

This Podcast has been supported by: 

Louis Joel Arts and Community 
5 Sargood Street, Altona 
admin@ljac.com.au