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I like the start in wcw country, Andrew; not sure if _all_ the rest is necessary, but it's fun... Doug On 2011-07-06, at 3:15 AM, andrew burke wrote: > Dear Robert Hass – do accept my apologies > > for the coffee I spilt on pages 325 to 350 > > of *The Apple Trees at Olema*. It is ironic > > really – the first poem stained was > > *I Am Your Waiter Tonight and My Name* > > *Is Dimitri.* The offending cup carries a kookaburra > > on its face, an imported bird known for its laughter > > at the expense of others: a schoolboy > > carrying a schoolgirl’s bag, an old man > > stumbling in his Gene Kelly role > > to court a fair lady. Here I am, clumsy > > apprentice to the master poet, writing > > in dwindling sunlight as clouds drift over. > > Not apples but limes grow beside me, > > limes which cost a dollar a pop in the local > > Vietnamese fruit and veg shop. Beside the lime > > stands a curry tree looking for all the world like > > a new recruit with his short back and sides – > > enough curry leaves clutter the garden floor > > to hustle for peace in Pakistan. You may be > > slightly appeased when I tell you the coffee > > was Fair Trade of a sorts, fair in as much as > > we buy it locally to support the café owner > > who isn’t doing too well, and who, in her turn, > > buys it from the Indian family with the Coffee Club > > who are likewise - or like foolish - not doing well. > > In economic terms, the heart of Australia > > has hardened: not the heart rules commerce > > but tax laws and banks. As I shuffle thought > > to thought, I wonder what’s Fair Trade in poetry? > > If our work paid it would be differently made. > > > > Late in this day music notation of our washing > > falls across shadow lines on my page > > and dust motes punctuate freely. > > Coffee has dried and almost disappeared > > where your words sit on the page. > > I translate your cover image into > > an Australian red apple from our south-west > > and a startling electric blue finch > > on Lady William’s* elegant arm. > > ------- > > ** Lady William is a local delicious red apple.* > > -- > Andrew > http://hispirits.blogspot.com/ > 'Mother Waits for Father Late' republished available at > http://www.picaropress.com/ > http://www.qlrs.com/poem.asp?id=766 > http://frankshome.org/AndrewBurke.html > Douglas Barbour [log in to unmask] http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/ http://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/ Latest books: Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy) http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664 Wednesdays' http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html It is natural to speak of your own weaknesses so winsomely they will seem strengths, as if everyone else is inadequate if they do not have your inadequacies. William H. Gass