Nursing Six Packs to their Chests – The 2019 AFL Grand Final Haiku Kukai

Well, it was another memorable haiku kukai despite the miserable game. Our assortment of poets, non-poets and general insurgents maintained admirable pluck throughout the afternoon, outshining and outlasting the lamentable GWS who put in a shocker. Put simply, there were fewer memorable moments out on the field than there were in the confines of the haiku commentary box!

 

The Grand Final kukai has been running for 8 years now and is entrenched for some of us ‘haiku-folk’ as a relative constant on the local haiku calendar. This year, as in all previous years, it attracted a liquorice allsorts of punters, many trying out haiku for the first time. Like in other poetry events I have facilitated over the years, this confirmed for me that we all have a need to create. The act of creation makes us connect to ourselves. And to each other. A kukai such as this also creates an instant community, brought together for the enjoyment of sharing haiku. As a poet, it’s hard to ask for much more.

 

The contributions for this kukai came from literally everywhere this year. From within Australia, we had people calling in from suburbs all over Melbourne as well as regional Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. From further abroad, we had some brilliant contributions from poets in Poland, Croatia, North America, France and Germany! And we also had people tuning in from Ghana, India and The UK. That’s a fair chunk of the globe right there.

 

The poets set a cracking pace in the first quarter – the only decent quarter of the match – with almost 50 haiku posted. That’s 2 per minute! Mirroring the game, interest started to wane after half-time, with people struggling to find inspiration, save for Dusty Martin and Marlion Pickett’s heroics. As a Grand Final, it was a fizzer, with few highlights. But, as the following sample shows, haiku poets managed to capture not just the game, but the atmosphere, inside the stadium and out. Until the bitter end – Kim Jeffs’ powerful message proving that haiku can do anything.

 

Thanks to Australian Poetry, the Australian Haiku Society and The Footy Almanac for getting behind this event, and of course to all those who joined in. Until next year.

 

Haiku Bob

(aka Rob Scott)

 

 

 

 

final countdown

the meteor scores a goal

over Bass Strait

 

Ron C. Moss

 

 

 

 

grand final day fever

will the tigers’ giant headache

come today or tomorrow morning?

 

Andrew Gigacz

 

 

 

 

tigers and giants

the stadium brimming

in legend and myth

 

Simon Hanson

 

 

 

 

crowd famished

at the big dance

no pies available

 

Michael Potter

 

 

 

 

final fitness test –

the camellia hanging on

to a branch

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

petals on the wind

players enter the stadium

one after another

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

Giants enter stage –

we hear the boos

all the way in Newcastle

 

Ela Fornalska

 

 

 

 

the botanic gardens

peaceful on grand final day

tiger lilies

 

Louise Hopewell

 

 

 

 

 

time for mind games over

bodies laid on the line

first quarter

 

Coral Carter

 

 

 

 

pre-game fitness test

all eyes on the player

except the pigeons

 

Chrissi Villa

 

 

 

 

 

September’s Final

competitors and spectators

are looking for rules

 

Ma?gorzata Tafil-Klawe

 

 

 

 

 

Too much time counting

Syllables and not enough

Watching the footy

 

Ruby Comte

 

 

 

 

Man grabs ball

Man grabs man

Ball goes on

 

Therase Fitzgerald Weeks

 

 

 

 

first blossoms –

every year that name

Rioli

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

tigers in front

of the lumbering giants –

six pies in the oven

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

jack kicks long and scores

both sides hungry at the break

I really should eat

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 

Giants

Half time

Little score.

 

Timothy Train

 

 

 

 

Half time is up now

Cue the semi-relevant

Money grabbing ads

 

Brenna Dempsey

 

 

 

 

Lopsided game

my piano leans heavily

to the right

 

Michael Robinson

 

 

 

 

half time…

a sip of tea

and biscotti

 

Madhuri Pillai

 

 

 

 

half time

someone starts a chainsaw

in a back yard

 

 

Myron Lysenko

 

 

 

 

syllables don’t count today

only points and goals

forty seven and twelve

 

Coral Carter

 

 

 

 

Camera on glum Giants fans

Text on the bottom of the screen

“Toyota oh what a feeling”

 

Therase Fitzgerald Weeks

 

 

 

 

Orange talls

can only produce

a Lilliputian score

 

Bill Wootton

 

 

 

 

the whole day

in a moment

Pickett goals

 

 

Rob Scott

 

 

 

 

final quarter

the maximum dexterity

of dad’s curses

 

Sanela Pliško

 

 

 

 

the seconds tick down to zero

just like oprah

everybody gets a goal

 

Derek Begg

 

 

 

 

it’s over now

elation here

deflation there

 

Andrew Gigacz

 

 

 

 

in packs, Tigers fans

nursing six packs to their chests

Premiers trophies

 

Kim Jeffs

 

 

 

 

final siren

at Jolimont station

surrounded by small Giants

 

Lucy Annicka

 

 

 

 

a long night ahead

women of Western Sydney

will pay for Giants’ loss

 

Kim Jeffs

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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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. Despite the match itself the Kukai seems to have been a big success HB. I enjoyed many of the haiku included above, but especially

    Orange talls

    can only produce

    a Lilliputian score.

    I might have to participate in 2020 from the Taminga pub in the Clare Valley! Thanks.

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