Grand Final 2016 – Siren Song: AFL Grand Final Haiku Kukai

 

Last week’s grand final will live long in the memory. It stood out from all others because it stood for something else. Something more than just a game of footy. The whole afternoon seemed to shine a light on everything it means to be human. The game, the result, and the aftermath, cut through to us in a way no other grand final has. It felt different. It made us feel different. It made us feel.

 

The game also marked the 5th running of the AFL Grand Final Haiku Kukai (and, thankfully, the first one without Hawthorn) with haiku poets calling in from all points of Australia and the globe to call the game in haiku. And just like the game itself, the haiku commentary had some unexpected moments;

 

Kennedy starring

I think of Lee Harvey

Oswald

 

Myron Lysenko

 

As well as some prophetic ones, like this from Lucy Stewart, the depth of which no-one could have foreseen;

 

first light

the city wakes

to live a dream

 

But not everyone can stop for the grand final, and many poets were calling in on their travels, including Nathan Curnow,

 

driving Adelaide to Melb

missing the game

half-time: Bordertown

 

Many haiku poets, however, were watching and could not take their eyes off the game, deftly mixing their impressions with a nod to their immediate surrounds, both urban and natural. What follows is a snapshot of the nearly 200 poems that came in over the course of the day. For Bulldog fans, this is a chance to relive the game in a way that they probably haven’t done before. Once more, with feeling.

 

Rob Scott (aka Haiku Bob)

 

 

 

 

underdogs wait

lush september grass

they made the cut

 

Ian Gostelow

 

 

 

 

Winter is over

Red sun through white clouds blue sky

Rises in the west

 

Dave Dreimann

 

 

 

 

 

first Grand Final –

the baby kicks

for the first time

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Dressed-up Doggies’ houses

Will they look so gaudy

On Sunday?

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 

Barking mad –

sons of the west

see red and white

 

Nadine Hartnett

 

 

 

 

Dawn breaks

white line awaits

Siren song

 

Ian Luke

 

 

 

 

first light

the city wakes

to live a dream

 

Lucy Stewart

 

 

 

 

Country cafe

Morning TV through tired eyes

Eddie yabbers on

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 


damp morning—

a bulldog chases a swan

into the duck pond

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

The chooks scoop water into their beaks

Footscray’s in the final

 

Jackie McConnell

 

 

 

 

the softest rain

Footscray scarf hanging on the balcony

 

Jackie McConnell

 

 

 

 

record breaking rains

the dams full on grand final day

swans glide in

 

Ian Gostelow

 

 

 

 

buying pies

in the supermarket

push in the back

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

pre-game warm up the hot dogs

 

Tash Adams

 

 

 

 

In the Members, upper crust

Meanwhile, I bite

the remains of my pie

 

Michael Potter

 

 

 

 

The cynic inside

says today is more about

money than football

 

Ron Barton

 

 

 

 

Kick Tackle Kick

Kick Kick Punch Kick

Made it inside the gate!

 

Michael Potter

 

 

 

 

The microphone waits

for a poet’s final call

Dennis Cometti

 

David Dreimann

 

 

 

 

worried

wherever I go –

Grand Final day

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Cloudy but calm

the old man holds back

a quiet tear

 

Nadine Hartnett

 

 

 

 

Haloed ground

Hallowed ground

Soon to be harrowed

 

Michael Potter

 

 

 

 

banh mi shop with ‘woof woof’ poster

Footscray

still a daggy real place

 

Maurice Mcnamara

 

 

 

 

still

the underdog

first quarter

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

spring clouds –

how the roar of the crowd

clings to everything

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Hoping to convert

Canadian bar

Only two people here

 

Sean M. Whelan

 

 

 

 

statistics

she writes five haiku

in the first quarter

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

he scores with the banana

practiced since he was eight

in the grand final

 

Ian Gostelow

 

 

 

 

bontempelli

libratore

johannson lin jong

australian rules

 

David Crosbie

 

 

 

 

harmony

a cat and three magpies sing

with the dogs

 

Nadine Hartnett

 

 

 

 

branch full

of forsythia blossoms

tight contest

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

Red white and blue

own the second quarter

magnolias rise

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

Buddy on one leg

Josh Kennedy grows

another

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Kennedy starring

I think of Lee Harvey

Oswald

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

Target the leather

Dispose of the courtesy

Can’t hear for screaming

 

Della Absalom

 

 

 

 

Grand Final Day

the girl turns the tv room

into a cubby house

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

driving Adelaide to Melb

missing the game

half-time: Bordertown

 

Nathan Curnow

 

 

 

 

screaming crowd

party pies still

in the freezer

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

hot ball –

no time to get out

a haiku

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

one goal the difference

that moment when going to the loo

is second

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

at Pink Lake –

Tom Boyd is ‘becoming

a man’

 

Nathan Curnow

 

 

 

 

Grand Final traffic

Great time to nip across town

for tea with a friend

 

Naomi Tooby

 

 

 

 

Picken flies

once was a Seagull

is he top Dog now?

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 

swirling petals –

Picken soars

and falls to the ground

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Catching my breath

Wishing the lead would be

More than two kicks

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 

four minutes to go

the bounce of the crowd

in slow motion

 

Jade Pisani

 

 

 

 

spring mist –

the last goal barely seen

through tears

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

final siren

fallen magnolias

all over the ground

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

Grand final dusk –
the sharp contrast
between winning and losing

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Boys don’t cry

I am glad Robert Smith

was wrong

 

Michael Robinson

 

 

 

 

drought breaks –

not worried now

about dying

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

tears

from winners and losers

falling petals

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

morning after

the dog whimpering next door

an hour ahead

 

Ian Gostelow

 

 

 

 

Morning gusts

The coloured streamers

Already fading

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

About rob scott

Rob Scott (aka Haiku Bob) is a peripatetic haiku poet who calls Victoria Park home. He writes haiku in between teaching whisky and drinking English, or something like that.

Comments

  1. Wonderful stuff, what a sample. The collection must be of a very high standard. So many to like but I single these out – they got me:

    Target the leather
    Dispose of the courtesy
    Can’t hear for screaming
    by Della Absalom

    four minutes to go
    the bounce of the crowd
    in slow motion
    by Jade Pisani

    Well done one and all!

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