Sunshine Coast Spoken Word

24/12/2024

Sometimes you see something that just makes you have to grab the moment. This is one of those. Late afternoon at Mary Cairncross Park near Maleny, overlooking the Glass House Mountains.

22/12/2024

Good night for photos at the marina last night - brilliant sunset, dead still at night for mirror pics, lots of tour and pleasure boats. A very festive time of year. I like it here. ❤️

18/10/2024

DEADLY DANCING. Oh, yeahhh ...

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Gtb24hHhonweNNxt/?mibextid=14AR8G

18/10/2024

When therapeutic language goes bad. 😁

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/DAq1JqrKMLtG7Hga/?mibextid=14AR8G

15/10/2024

THEY'RE KILLING THE COWS

Next US President? Puh-lease.

Former president makes remark during Las Vegas campaign event and says: ‘Honestly, they’re crazy’

10/10/2024

How beautiful is this poem by Peter Swarbrick? Peter was a shining light at Sunshine Coast Spoken Word in its heyday, and has recently reconnected. He has a body of work that is exquisitely crafted, and cuts through to all the places in you that matter.

Naked and fire-lighted
We stood before each other
With forty years behind us
Husband, father, wife and mother
Her nature suits as well as mine does
Joint credit in our heart’s account
Which in more selfish times
Both of us had overdrawn
But then repaid in full amount
Now revealed and softly shaded
By the candle’s warm illume
Her curves and hollows sing
To me, each day a new reprise
Around her throat a pearly string
Upon her skin alighted
Glowed within – as if ignited
By the embers in her eyes
In shellfish times
The pearls were made
By oysters laved with lunar tides
Kept their little moons inside
Growing safe within the folds
That hold the memory of sea
A briny tribute to the one
That has the oceans in her hand
Pearls begin from grains of sand
Mountains ground to nth degree,
The mollusc slow encapsulates
Each layer less jagged than before
An evanescent recollection
A slow resistant redirection
Until what once annoyed
Is a kinder version of the past
Gives thought for pause
Becomes a lovely proof at last
Of tolerance and clear reflections
Naturally with imperfections
And a few defining flaws
She smiled—the knot unknotted
And the moons suspended ‘round her throat
A lustrous cataract became
Cascading through her curves and hollows
At once a pearly hailstorm follows
Chattered, scattered and came to rest
A softly shining constellation
Upon the floor around our feet
Sparked a heart-felt conflagration
That we seized
And wrung the pleasure from
Until replete
Then retrieved
The errant moons in consternation
For one still free,
retained its liberty
Until we found it
Returned to its creation
Just where a pearl would be
Glowing safe within the folds
That hold the memory of sea
Peter Swarbrick 2024

25/09/2024

I spend a lot of time sitting and watching humans and how they interact. Here's one from the archives of this strange and fertile imagination

THE ART OF NEGOTIATION

There’s a guy at the end of a busy city street
Decides that today he’s going to walk its length without stepping aside for anyone
He may have just arrived at that cumulative moment in his life
where he’s realised he’s dying the death of a thousand concessions
cutting away his soul
and he’s over it
He ain’t gonna take it any more
And it starts NOW

He acknowledges that in the pedestrian bustle ahead
and despite the various strategies humans employ to avoid confrontation
He may be confronted

And though his resolve is hard as a diamond
he’s a reasonable man
and has allowed for the possibility
He will just stop and hold his ground
Impassive as The Sphinx
Serene as the Buddha
Immovable
The tip of a mighty iceberg
Bedrock

And he will remain thus until THEY decide to go around HIM
He will stand there FOREVER if that’s what it takes

Not too much to ask

At the other end of the street is another guy

He’s over it too

25/09/2024

THE POTTED REVIEW Of 'BEING THERE'

4 night run
4 standing ovations
Singularly rave reviews

I've been in and seen many events and productions in the 25 years since I began performing in my mid 40's, at some of the biggest festival stages in the country, including the Sydney Theatre Company, and this is hands-down the best I've ever been in, and up there with anything I've ever seen. A unique blend of the arts concocted and presented by an amazing ensemble gathered by Nick Grivas of Liquid Lyrics, who's brainchild it is. The professionalism, cooperation and love in the ensemble just blew full houses away night after night. This show would grace any stage in the world, and its themes are so relevant to everyone, and it showed in the reception it received.
An honour to have a small part in it, and I hope it gets the backing so it can be shared everywhere. A Tour de Force.

That is all. 😁👏

21/09/2024

STUNNING, WORLD CLASS, AMAZING, are just a few of the superlatives that tumbled from the lips of the Head of Creative Industries at USC, whom I insisted had to see this production, BEING HUMAN. Fantastic exemplar and inspiration for his students, and well, anybody really. I have a small part, but this ensemble, headed up by Nick Grivas of Liquid Lyrics is the best production I've ever been involved with, and I can't wait to see a recording from the audience perspective. It's fu***ng amazing from out the back. Two standing ovations and stunned, delighted audience feedback doesn't lie. Definitely world class, and very, very intimate.

19/09/2024

STANDING OVATION FOR BEING HUMAN, AND RIGHTLY SO.

We all suspected this was going to be special, and that's what happened at last night's premier of Being There, Nick Grivas's amazing brainchild concocted with a brilliant cast of tech crew and performers. It's a powerful, uplifting experience of music, spoken work, singing, acting, dance and visual art. Last night was sold out, and the word of mouth will be doing the rounds today, so all aboarrrd, my friends.

Show runs through to Sunday night, so book ahead, and be there by 6pm.

Here's a link:

https://events.humanitix.com/being-human?hxchl=mkt-sch&_gl=1*y7ycn5*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MjY3ODAwOTAuQ2p3S0NBandsNi0zQmhCV0Vpd0FwTjZfa3VDSWJ4a19aZ0txM2Q1UFk5dzN4UGNTMnFaVU5BWmFLS2RLbHJqb0pZcFRJdXdKOGVhOXBCb0N6eXdRQXZEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_au*MTc0OTYwNjE5NS4xNzI2NjYzOTgz*_ga*MjM1MzQ4MjI3LjE3MDc4MTY3NzY.*_ga_LHKW5FR9N6*MTcyNjc4MDA4OS44LjEuMTcyNjc4MDEwMS40OC4wLjA.

08/09/2024

WHERE THERE"S A WILL ...

Experts say the state’s approach could provide a template for what can be achieved elsewhere

28/02/2024

I've been tracked down by Leah Lowe forom SA and asked to advertise this event, Emceed by the incomparable Muz Hartin, a bush poetry legend. Here it is.

25/02/2024

THE POEM ON THE WALL

So, in 2016, I was invited by Phil Smith of the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance to run a poetry slam at an event in Caloundra headlining Bruce Dawe, whose poem was placed on a wall for posterity. A ripping evening. When I got home, still pumped, I wrote this piece about poetry.

The Poem on the Wall

The spell that breaks down walls is on the wall.
Brushstrokes silently seep into surface.
Paint dries, the poem is whole—
graffiti etched upon your soul.

Unlike the wall, these words do not contain you,
though they may divide you,
separate you from your senses, pe*****te your defences,
tip you from the fences you sit upon.

For their purpose is to give you wings,
or to burrow deep beneath the things that prop you up,
squirming through the dark labyrinth of what you thought you felt and knew,
so you emerge with a different view, drink from a different cup.

The lever slips,
the wheel turns,
the fever grips,
the passion burns,
the mind reels,
the heart feels,
shadows and sunlight come and go,
the ebb and flow of life and death,
a dying sigh, a newborn’s breath,
the clouds of life drift by,
and by and by,
you and other readers all
are bound and changed both large and small,
by the poem written on the wall.

The spell that breaks down walls is on the wall.
Brushstrokes silently seep into surface.
Paint dries, the poem is whole—
graffiti etched upon your soul.

© Robin Archbold 2016

19/02/2024

TO AVOID CONFUSION, MY FRIENDS ...

I've posted TWO SEPARATE GIGS on my page the last few days, following enquiries about upcoming appearances. Both gigs are via Liquid Lyrics, run by my friend, Nick Grivas.

GIG 1: Liquid Lyrics Poetry Slam, in Coolum this Saturday night. I'm not competing—don't do that anymore—but I'm invited to be the Sacrificial Poet to set the tone, with a 3 minute limit as per slam rules. The theme for the evening is Love and Other Chemicals. Advise patrons bring cudgels, a box of Kleenex and a change of underwear.

GIG 2: Liquid Lyrics Spoken Mic in Nambour, Saturday, March 9, where I get 10 minutes of emotional mayhem, ditto for poetry heavyweights, Joe Lynch, Ian Mackay, and Gil Douglas. Ten poets get 10 minutes each, so it'll be quite the show.

Check out Liquid Lyrics FB pages for details. There! Sorted?