Words & Poems
In this week’s Poet’s Corner, Susan O’Brien writes about poems and their words.
Words
Words
are visitors
to the mind
they do not promise
to stay
or put down roots
They are shy when bidden
and vanish like leaves
Though common currency,
we do not own them
changing their meaning
by the company they keep
they come
and go
at whim
On a bad day
my mind is a bog
On a good day
my mind is a wellspring of words
which flow from my fingertips
and are captured by the avid page
in patterns that surprise and shine…
Poems
Poems are grace notes of the mind
mysteriously evolving
though some
elbow their way in
fully formed
Slipping into consciousness
when the mind is idling
the nub presents itself
and submits
to gradual grooming
and pruning
Single words are slippery
phrases have more hooks
rhythm and rhyme,
twin maestros that
couple words
then tango them
dance them
onto the page.
Susan O’Brien lives half of her time off the grid overlooking the gorge of the Finniss River on the Fleurieu Peninsula, the other half in Adelaide’s CBD. Since recent semi-retirement from medical practice as a GP with a specific interest in mental health, she has started to capture her poems on the page, writing about what the natural world may present. A particular associated delight is South Australia’s produce, in its wines, olives and other Mediterranean fruits. As well as InDaily, her poems have appeared in Friendly Street anthologies, and she has read at the Coriole vineyard and on 101.5 FM Radio Adelaide’s Gastronaut program.
