Jann Harry, a one-of-a-kind Australian poet who never had the profile she deserved in the wider public, died on 20th May. A brilliant, witty, iconoclastic thinker, Harry was revered by her fellow poets but too idiosyncratic, perhaps, for general popularity. One of her most memorable creations is Peter Lepus, the philosophical rabbit, follower of Wittgenstein and Russell, who travels the world observing the great events of our time, such as the Gulf War. Here’s an early poem that seems appropriate on this occasion:
as stones go into water
as grass goes into ground
the words containing stones and grass
go into you
and sink
are gone
and round or green
as pebble or blade
the words in you go rolling on
a changing ground
and you move on
as round or green
as the stones and grass
beneath your feet
as stones fall into water
as grass grows out of ground
the words containing stones and grass
grow out of you
and you are gone
from If…And the Moveable Ground, Wagtail 29, Picaro Press February 2004. You can read more about Harry in this tribute from Nicolette Stasko: http://southerlyjournal.com.au/2015/05/28/vale-js-harry/
Image: http://pixabay.com/en/grass-stone-grasses-reed-plant-66600/
Gert Loveday's Fun with Books 