Kitchen Music

Extract (the poem to appear in full in the forthcoming Southerly No 68 Double Exposures )

Kitchen Music

Bundanon, Autumn 2008

for William Barton

Our kitchen window faces dawn and frames solidified air through

a glass of mercurial water the tanker carts from upstream;

east to west the sky is a blank sheet of paper. Sun’s rays push

through the Musician’s Cottage, a waxed frieze glowing in the fog

from the porch light left on. You’ll be asleep, having worked through

to finish your commission, but cante jondo pours from your direction.

A lyrebird is letting rip, beginning each sequence with a whip bird’s

fluid rising crack and his mate’s instant reply, one note twice repeated,

then bowerbird screeches which stream into its patent chuckles and whistles,

fast & loud through the repertoire to trilling flycatchers and a whistler’s

signature psalm. He’s a song thief, year round concert performer,

prodigal musician staking his claim to this green tongue of riverflats.

“The Judges were unanimous . . . Kitchen Music stood out for us not only for its ambitious intent, but also because of the strength and power of the language and its evocative magic. The poem is impressive for the way in which it uses music, in this case the sound of a didgeridoo to travel expansively through a landscape and create both a complex visceral and emotional terrain that builds up through the layers of finely crafted lyrical thought.

We very much enjoyed the way the tone and the lyricism surfaced throughout the images and references. John’s abilities to build transformative connections not only with the landscape and with the small community of artist at Bundanon, but also with musical referencing and a rich awareness of animal and stellar life is a fine achievement.

The way in which these elements have been so organically integrated into the work is a tribute to the poet's language skills and the richness of his imagination. We felt there was a strong sense of vision, an impressive array of knowledge and a deeply connected sensibility behind this fine poem.”

Judith Beveridge, introducing 'Kitchen Music' the David Harold Tribe Poetry Award, Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney, 30.10.08