canberrabirds

Black Mountain Cultural Festival

To: "canberrabirds" <>
Subject: Black Mountain Cultural Festival
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:21:33 +1100
Dear Jack
 
I am writing to you in your capacity of chairman off the Black Mountain Cultural Picnic, er Festival, specifically on the matter off the poetry competition.  First, I would like to feel some confidence that this will not take place simultaneously with the judging of the children's waterbird costume competition and the dutch auction for the limited number of bird call cds with accompanying bird names.
 
Next, I am a little concerned at the matter of length viz 'suggested limit 8-12 lines'.  I am thinking of delivering, if I assess at the time that its slightly political message will not be out of place, 'Twilight of the Bush Capital'.  This, however, although considerably shorter than its operatic counterpart now being performed in Adelaide, does run to 20 lines (albeit quite short ones).  If I am faced with a cut-off at 12 lines I would much prefer to have the option of omitting two of the middle verses rather than the last  two.  I wonder if it would be unacceptable collusion if we were to come to some arrangement about that?
 
Of course, the whole line limit rests on doubtful logic.  With a little editing the longest poem could be structured with only two lines.  I am anticipating here that a one-line poem would face the challenge of some pedant that the line had been crossed that divides poetry from prose.
 
Alternatively, failing an accommodation as envisaged, I could deliver my 'How Swift the Parrot' (8 lines) or perhaps the pre-metric 'Finches', which was printed in Gang-gang some years ago when the editorship was in the hands of followers of the neo-aesthetic movement.  As I retrieve the lines from my memory, they went:
 
Finches love
eating seeds;
they look for them
among the weeds.
To mention something
of more inches,
Hobbies love
eating finches.
 
Although lacking the passion of 'Twilight of the Bush Capital', this, surely, would comfortably survive the most stringent application of the foreshadowed length limit.
 
I trust you will forgive my writing to you on these on these matters, but I would like to feel that my planning for the Festival is along the right lines.
 
Sincerely
 
Geoffrey
 
 
 
 
 
     
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