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
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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.
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.