Haiku poets around the globe were at it again during the 2014 AFL Grand Final. This annual celebration of footy and haiku is now into its 3rd year, when poets eschew cliché, hyperbole and other Cometti-isms, and fix their gaze on the game through a zoom haiku lens. The poets were scattered like the petals of a cherry blossom. Jen Jewel Brown called in from Sydney, Ian Gostelow was on the highway to Shepparton, Myron Lysenko was in the backyard at Woodend with his family and a dead chook, Timothy Train cut a grainy figure in the back corner of a beer garden somewhere, and Haiku Bob (Rob Scott) was hooked up intravenously to a coffee machine in a pub in Stockholm. Others from the UK, Croatia and Sweden just came to watch.
And, as usual, the results are astounding. Going right through Grand Final week, from the Brownlow Medal count to the Grand Final hangover, haiku poets provide a wrap of the week like few can. They don’t miss a bump, a tackle, or cheap laugh! In total, there were 191 poems. More than the number of kicks, handpasses, marks and tackles the Swans had. Yep folks, it was a slaughter.
Below is but a sample of the fun.
Join us next year. If you can stand the heat.
Rob Scott.
hamstrings and bedsprings
a flurry of airplanes
a packing of frocks
Jen Jewel Brown
Brownlow night –
my past misdemeanors
come back to haunt me
Rob Scott
training session
the players practise
goal celebrations
Myron Lysenko
Grand Final week –
someone in the stairwell
mentions Buddy
Rob Scott
Sydney’s back pages
who are these
other guys?
Jen Jewel Brown
September sky –
all eyes on the one under
the injury cloud
Rob Scott
Birds of two feathers
flock to Melbourne for the game –
together, apart.
Timothy Train
Two or three poets huddled
at back of the beer garden –
my grand final day
Timothy Train
Springtime rites
a change of plumage
Who’s your buddy now?
Derek Begg
Morning shadows
kick across
an empty ground
Lucy Stewart
spring dawn –
the MCG
taking shape
Rob Scott
countdown to a siren
when they can all forget
the terror they’re meant to feel
Nathan Curnow
temperature rising
two teams competing madly
to withstand the heat
Andrew Gigacz
my life story
to a complete stranger
Grand Final day
Rob Scott
the odds of ASIO
spying on our footy haiku:
TomWaterhouse.com
hot meat pie
all over my lap – its decided
in the midfield
Nathan Curnow
ball bounce
the roars rising
to the sky
Jayashree Maniyil
footy and haiku
it could only be
a Melbournian marriage
Ela Fornalska
huddle up fellas
bounce kick bounce tackle first blood
only result counts
Belinda Coates
our three year old
cheers on the bombers –
scattered clouds
Jade Pisani
petals fall
from the camellia
blood rule
Myron Lysenko
spring breeze –
the whiff
of an upset
Rob Scott
Adam Goodes
Australian of the Year
seeking buddy
Nathan Curnow
muscly legs-
which two teams are playing,
babe?
Jade Pisani
one-sided—
the haiku more exciting
than the game
Myron Lysenko
Gold and brown
hot like sun
scorching the swans
Elizabeth ‘Lish’ Škec
halftime
thundersnags
are go!
Paul Škec
haiku and footy
eyes dart
between screens
Ela Fornalska
a haiku frenzy
one sided game
flat battery
Ian Luke
Driving the highway
Grand final on the radio
a Hawk hovering above
Ian Gostelow
Champagne football
Too early yet
To pop the cork
Derek Begg
Shepparton sunshine
checking in to the hotel
as the swans check out
Ian Gostelow
Hawks
feasting on their prey—
the cat comes inside
Myron Lysenko
falling petals
not sure who’s
on who
Rob Scott
boring match –
I paint my toenails
hot pink
Jade Pisani
swandive
shoulda put a pony
on the hawks
Paul Škec
not a very
grand
final
Simon Exley
Hale’s head—
the bald patch
on our lawn
Myron Lysenko
at the pub
surrounded by old friends
Buddy gets a kiss
Rob Scott
Keeping’s off
final three minutes
Swans long flight home
Matthew Harris
roaring crowd—
the cat meows
for more food
Myron Lysenko
precise—
Roughhead’s
smooth kick
agile hawks swoop
on the slow swans
goal achieved
Bee Jay
final siren ~
all the shadows
fall into one
Rob Scott
The shrill pitch of fevered
joy a mere tone away from pain’s
Wretched yowl
Lucy Stewart
Hawthorn scarves
tied to a post in a back street
no stopping here
Ruby Hummingbird
Grand Final hangover
blood stains
from the hawk tattoo
Rob Scott

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.
Wonderful, wonderful stuff. What a mix … of words and images and sentiments and wit. They are all good but I’ve picked out these because they got in and under:
Gold and brown
hot like sun
scorching the swans
Elizabeth ‘Lish’ Škec
hot meat pie
all over my lap – its decided
in the midfield
Nathan Curnow
petals fall
from the camellia
blood rule
Myron Lysenko
But they are all wonderful expressions of the heart of the matter.
Cheers
Agree Rick.
Bucket loads of imagery.
‘Petals fall’ is masterful.
Well that is truly magnificent! Well done all.
Those keen to delve deeper can check out the facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/events/362406670582731/
Love HB. The last one is probably the best. But so many great images.
This is great, just great! Have you been to Myron’s shop ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ in Brunswick? Best bookshop in Melbourne. Picked up ‘The Book of Questions’ there last month after tip from friendly staff. And what a book!
I was there a while back. 3 years? I did a haiku reading there one night. He’s one of my biggest fans!
Thanks Damian.