on the oval
rain brings puddles
brings ducks

Timothy K

dancer girl
harder being creative
when you're naked

Rocky

set the clock forward
to keep the devil guessing
at the witching hour

Ian Row

come to me tonight
don't think i need to know why
but that you were right

In memory of Jeff Cahill, 1960-2008

Ian Row

Streaks across the sky
from where to where no-one knows
unless it hits you.

Chris Gill

looking for exs
on facebook - would help if i
could remember names

Rocky

without a menu
phone order impossible
stir fried whatever

Neve

Law of the jungle

you can't live in this
village if you can't dance to
the beat of the drum

Ian Row

Law of the heart

love retreats
its sweet song softly silenced
a whisper goodbye

Ian Row

rollerskating
a vision of grace crashes
lost my rojo

Ian Row

for cam

your signature bling
rest of you remains secret
a matter of time

Ian Row

feral white people
setting standards for others
keep it to yourself

Cesca Alice

Holiday haiku

Stationary travel:
mind off on annual leave
body still at work.

Chris Gill

The Red Centre Collective 11

Postlude

i.
I forget my brownness
… you have been randomly selected…
define ‘random’

ii.
Alice – twenty four
Melbourne – six degrees celsius
I hope Clinton wins

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 10

Alice Springs V

Blind black busker
A bittersweet James Taylor
My pity is wrong

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 9

Hermannsburg Suite

i.
Hermannsburg mission
G’day Jesus, g’night dreamtime
Legend for legend

ii.
Vision post-Albert*
Desert in watercolours
Life imitates art

*Namatjira, painter

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 8

Tennant Creek II

i.
Restless sleep
Spirits mess with my dreaming
In-residence

ii.
What intervention*!
It’s about uranium
We eat what we’re fed

*Commonwealth's Indigenous intervention in the Northern Territory

iii.
I drift off
Find myself doing 180
Baby’s coming through!

iv.
backbone of mountains
trace the tracks of time; humbled
by the earth and wind

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 7

Tennant Creek I

i.
roadhouse: a dress code,
a time to buy alcohol
rules of engagement

ii.
cash spent on junk food
essentials bought on lay-by
purchasing power

iii.
up here the police
are a law unto themselves
but don’t quote me

iv.
against setting sun
silhouette of shamelessness
night can’t come too soon

v.
stock standard menu
dinner at the RSL*
standard clientele

*Returned and Services League

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 6

Alice Springs IV

i.
barefoot in the bush
the future brought the 4WD
and shoes for the mall

ii.
who have I become?
no stomach for poverty
who I have become

iii.
rabbits are dying
slim pickings for the wedged-tail
can’t please everyone

iv.
indigenous art
middlemen charge top dollar
daylight robbery

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 5

Kings Canyon Suite

i.
contrary to
popular belief, one can
get rock overload

ii.
In artesia
NT’s water miracle
One thousand years

iii.
nation said sorry
the Spinifex burns from inside
regeneration

iv.
twenty-five per cent
royalty from national park
what does money mean?

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 4

Alice Springs III

i.
lizards have ears
snakes are deaf and mostly blind
reptiles 101

ii.
in my mouth
I taste my prejudice
can’t spit, can’t swallow

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 3

Alice Springs II

i.
“I have a white dad,”
“Mostly I feel black. And blue.”
Give the boy a rainbow.

ii.
can’t stay/can’t go
education should be free
get out of jail card

iii.
this life: in amber
he’s outside himself; freedom
as far as the fence

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 2

Alice Springs I

i.
in the red centre
my first meal should aptly be
from Red Rooster

ii.
safe from the social ills…
families mock the big city
we love our bubble

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective 1

Prelude

i.
Backpacker panic
Use my luggage allowance
Big karmic points scored

ii.
eleven kilos!
Who says I can’t travel light?
Take-off: Butterflies

Ian Row

The Red Centre Collective - Introduction

Centre Australia comprises the Northern Territory’s immense, ancient outback and the heart of the Australian continent. Lying in the heart of Central Australia, nestled between the East and West MacDonnell Ranges is Alice Springs, Australia’s most famous outback town. Alice is the product of 19th century pioneers who opened up Australia’s interior.

500 kms north of Alice Springs is Tennant Creek, a mining tent-town gazetted in 1934, following the last great gold rush of Australia.
126 kms west of Alice Springs is the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct. The Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission was one of the early towns in Central Australia; it was also the home of the famous Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira.

Alice Springs is home to many places of cultural and spiritual significance for its traditional owners, the Arrernte people (also referred to as Aranda, Arrarnta, Arunta). Aboriginal people are the original custodians of Australia and are widely regarded as the earth’s oldest living culture, having lived in the continent for more than 40,000 years.

The Dreamtime is the Aboriginal understanding of the world, of its creation, and its great stories. The Dreamtime is the beginning of knowledge, from which came the laws of existence. For survival these laws must be observed.

The Red Centre Collective was written between 10-17 May 2008 and is dedicated to Matthew Ryan.

Ian Row

Sources:

Central Australia: Holiday & Visitor Guide 2008/2009 (published by Tourism Central Australia)
Tennant Creek -The Barkly Region: Visitor Guide 2007 (published by Barkly Tourism)
www.aboriginalart.com.au

Tea & oranges
into your goodness
softly i fall

Karen McVean

Missing duck haiku

i.Lost
Missing: Pre-loved duck
At first I was afraid...
Love, a fickle thing

Ian Row

ii.Found
Did I run amok
or come unstuck when bad luck struck
and I lost my duck?

Chris Gill

manky little fag
one serve of customer care
salvation army

to joel, salvos store, abbotsford

Ian Row

Tram Haiku 2

schoolgirl overload
tram reverberates with glee
class tours the city

Ian Row

Current Events Haiku

i.
cab driver stabbing
protests: a city stands still
at last, concessions

ii.
seat sniffing MP
what's wrong with you Liberals?
a circus of freaks

Ian Row

complications: thoughts
stirring, stewing, bring to boil
keeping me awake

Ian Row

Tram Haiku 1

tram way etiquette
transistor broadcasting loud
failure in row one

Jenny Morris

Spot Haiku 15

i.
just when i thought my
day was going to be endless
drudge - spot haiku's here!!

Cathy Dineen

ii.Home time
In a trance
I only want to be with you
Crazy but true.

Karen McVean

iii.
the going down of the sun
means more to us all
on April the twenty-fifth

Leah Billeam

iv.
Five, seven, five or
seven, five seven?
I can't spot haiku.

Chris Gill

v.
pennsylvania
retrograde rustbelt rednecks
brush them off barack

Patrick McCormick

Cemetery Tour: Suite

i.
indigo evening
just five torchlights between us
history lights the way

ii.
the mausoleum
a trolley of dead lilies
porcelain faces

iii.
granite monuments
threaten the sky. beneath, the
water table stirs.

iv.
lives unravel
celebrated, secrets spilled.
does shame fade away?

v.
life's fitful fever
infant mortaility rate
unforgiving times

Ian Row

Guess who I saw in the paper today

resurfacing
eleven years in between
I still cringe

Ian Row

Can't take the China
out of the Chinese... Stir-fried
face and jasmine pride.

Josh

pre-dawn exercise
no longer theory but fact
gym monkey flunkey

Cathy Dineen

Friday morning: mist.
Indoors all day. Sunshine missed.
Weeks end. Darkness. Pissed.

Chris Gill

Another Facebook haiku

unsubscribe, he clicked
details of your boring life
go feed someone else

Ian Row

A Facebook haiku

it's not me, it's you
enact facebook deletion
lackadaisical

Cesca Alice

i had a wife
long ago, she left
and I stayed.

Paul

I have a girlfriend
Just like that. Where does that leave me?
Where I've always been.

Neve

hungry, desperate world
the poverty line redrawn
we need loaves and fish

Ian Row

Burnt illegally
Hercules and love affair
Thanks for the tip off

Jason Rostant

Two haiku about being on a steering committee

Pre:
steering committee
you drive and they navigate
then me, in blind spot

Post:
steering committee
applause as i indicate
off go the p-plates

Ian Row

tracing the red lights...
read her lips... it's a slow night
at the cinema

Rocky

for luka

lego afternoon
field of possibilities
brick by brick we build

Ian Row

4WD cockhead
3 litre 6 cylinder
No presence of mind

Ian Row

the passport photo
i-have-a-fat-neck-i-have-a-fat-neck!
you are what you write

Ian Row

Post-modern semi-
limericks, provide food for thought
in bite-size chunks

G

Speed Round 8

A mid-week hump suite

i.
Harmful odours swirl
Old sandwiches, old ideas
The Pod blues in C

Jenny Morris

ii.
Can't think
Piss or leave or
Do both

Karen McVean

iii.
Can't think
Piss or yell or leave
Multiple choices

Karen McVean

iv.Speed hump haiku
No matter how slow
I drive over the speed hump
it never says thanks.

Chris Gill

v.
MBF wants to
buy my soul with ready cash
SOLD!!

Cathy Dineen

baby says 'eat me',
spruiking his deliciousness,
tempting the tourist.

Ian Row

self serving chatter
will you listen to yourself, mate
self service ego

Ian Row

Watershed Moments 4

mirror to myself
from the raft of excuses...
rises the clean truth

Ian Row

one girl's tony
is another man's joe -
this week's opiate

Neve

The Interview

We'll judge your merit
by passively watching you
fail to guess our thoughts.

Chris Gill

cast against type
top/fit/masc/cut - no match for
a dte heart

Ian Row

Beautiful people
even at the bottom end.
Brunswick Street for ya!

Ian Row

no one believes me,
says here, machine wash, gentle.
electric blanket.

Ian Row

I'm suddenly jarred:
Where are the Nolan Sisters?
Slinky Scottish waifs

Simon Patience

nine forty a.m.
in the mood for eggs he says
the morning unravels

Simon Patience & Ian Row

Acapella Rain

acapella rain
in sync with the quietude
soundtrack of autumn

Ian Row

A haiku about a sarky media bitch

to jasmine

sarky media bitch
four pins in the voodoo doll
can't wait for karma

Ian Row

A haiku about personal branding

personal branding
careful not to oversell
long slow shortcomings

Ian Row

post-easter weekend
eyesglazeoverthingstodolist
what time is lunch?

Ian Row

Easter Monday Haiku

the risen Christ
starts work in his new office
i sleep in

Ian Row

Easter Haiku

i.
Stations of the cross,
Easter vigil, Easter mass,
Singers getting hoarse

Carol Ruth Kimmel

ii.
godless sunday
post-party trashiness
reign of false idols

Ian Row

Good Friday Haiku

i.
Friday, Jesus dies.
I predict that on Sunday
he'll rise from the dead.

Chris Gill

ii.
"Reconciliation"
buzz word for Aussie Christians
Language of the times

Ian Row

Wind tumbles
Autumn leaves flip and turn
Frisky weather

Karen McVean

Boy, baggage boarding
Because brilliant bundle babe,
Boy be born. Bitchin'!

Jason Rostant

flasher in the park
obviously glad to see me
all my christmases!

Ian Row

heated sidewalks help
the city stink of excess
mid workplace hot spots

Cathy Dineen

A belated lunar new year haiku

lunar new year
everything's a first
for the second time

Bill Kenney

Five haiku about the end of 'acting in'

i.
Two and a half years
I've been doing this job, yet
I must re-apply.

ii.
Enthusiasm -
Can I muster enough to
Fake sincerity?

iii.
Let's talk leadership.
Is the job interview best
to query its lack?

iv.
Only merit can
Give meaning to an offer
Of any value.

v.
How good should I be?
Do they want excellence, or
compliant bullshit?

Chris Gill

lithuanian
policeman and poet; it's
too hard to fathom...

Cathy Dineen

Cathy writes a birthday haiku for Ian

Age is not in years
But in attitude, they say...
Happy birthday, Ian... mate

Cathy Dineen

Lunar New Year Haiku

year of the rat
the promise of new beginnings
good news for all

for everyone

Ian Row

Memorial

you're gone
did you know i was sorry
and that it was love?

for stuie

Ian Row

Dream: 0302

i.
struggling with mother
why won't you let me in?
things unsaid

ii.
the end of the world
in one hundred and twenty days
read the text message

Ian Row

Two haiku about msg-induced dreams

i.
i saw yeti
running up snow capped mountain
i know where you live

ii.
gracious dying
easy to be generous
when there's still time

Ian Row

festivity time
friends, gossip, tales told and more -
steak night at commune

Cathy Dineen

too much chocolate
haven't we had this discussion?
bad baby

Ian Row

treading water
where did all this work come from?
mummy, i'm tired

Ian Row

letter from Defence
services not required
a debt, paid

Ian Row

i hate feet
feet are disgusting
change the subject

Ian Row

Earth, Wind & Fire
New sound, old souls, same spirit
Proof you can go home

Ian Row

ok. I'll go.
perhaps it's time to step out.
hold my hand.

Ian Row

i.
disappearing act
laptop's epileptic fit
oh-seven's emails

ii.
everything's gone
what does 'reset' really mean?
point of no return

Ian Row

young boys
know no subtlety
fast and furious

Ian Row

Ms Conscience protests,
fullheartedly; Sir Habit
succumbs to himself.

Ian Row

A haiku about horse-riding

back in the saddle:
like poetry - like haiku -
it is all rhythm...

Cathy Dineen

winter rain
my fortune cookie tells me
happiness increases

Bill Kenney

Haiku disclaimer #2

We deeply regret
any inconvenience.
For complaints, re-read.

Chris Gill

New Year Haiku 3

i.
Princess KK
If I were a party, I'd be
New Year's Eve.

ii.
3 to midnight
Reasons to be cheerful
One two three.

iii.
Resolutions
Does my arse look fat
in this NY

Karen McVean

All the Country Roads
Can lead me away from home
Working for the man

Jenny Morris

dual view desktop
the size of manhattan
two fields of vision

Jenny Morris & Ian Row

Yum Cha

yum cha buffet
steamed wobbly goobyness
spin lazy susan!

Ian Row

stop whistling sam
i can't hear myself think
and barry white sing

Ian Row

New Year Haiku 2

i.
she awakes
amongst strangers
to the first light of the year

for Kris at the Woodford Folk Festival

ii.
new year dawns:
last night’s fireworks
tingle on her lips

for Spanki

iii.
in birdsong dawn
greeting the new year
naked

Ross Clarke

New Year Haiku 1

i.
cricket concert and heat haze -
fireworks while dogs bark:
Castlemaine New Year.

Cathy Dineen

ii.
New Year
an old habit
of resolution

Bill Kenney

iii.
After Christmas break
Desk: clean. To Do list: unticked.
In-tray, mind: empty.

Chris Gill

iv.
back in orifice!
baby needs to i-kea
lampshades are calling

Ian Row