And finally... Guerilla Poetry Devonport PHOTOS

With apologies to all those patient poets... finally I have squeezed a window into life and sorted out the photos I took of the inaugural Devonport Guerilla Poets (under the radar) event.

They mostly lasted well.  Two poems survive - or they did until last week anyway.  One outside 'Mecca' cafe, and another on the post of one of our pedestrian crossings.

It was gratifying to spot locals and visitors pause to read the poems.  And frustrating to see some people walk right over the large chalked words on the pavement saying 'STOP - Poem!' with arrows even pointing the way.  Amazing, bewildering and frankly a little upsetting to see people so blinkered.  Something more 'in your face' next time, perhaps!

Not all of the poems that were put up are featured here, but a selection.

King Edward Parade

Mecca Cafe

Near the library

Bandstand near the library

Outside 'The Stone Oven' cafe, central Devonport

A bookshop without a sense of humour - this one didn't last long, sadly

Poem on a bench, King Edward Parade

Local poet Rita Fought's 'Ode to Devonport', Kin Parade

A call to passersby!

My childrens' favourite tree

Tree


here is a Kingdom
a Queendom
a planet
arms, feet, legs
of a secret world.
around, in, out, down
reaching, reaching
twisting, twining
never just
always
a tree

© Naomi Madelin 2011

Christmas/New Year Tree : Dinah Hawken (C)

Sadly the wharf's security guards didn't deem our residents worth of inspirational words - they washed this off quite early the following morning

This city doth like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning

The first poem I put up - I soon got better and knots, and neater with string!

The last survivor on Devonport Wharf!

water line
a chorus of shells
in many parts

(c) Naomi Madelin 2010

Thanks to Bill Manhire for agreeing to let me post a couple of his wonderful poems

Windsor Reserve was a good location - the poems were enjoyed for a long time here

 

This one lasted for quite a long time, many thanks to Anne French (c)

Emily Dickinson quote, by the clock at the junction of King Edward Pde and Church Street
Chalking was a buzz - and you can write nice and large!  I'll definitely do it again.

No security guards at the clock, this was allowed to wear off in its own good time!

The vicar at All Saints agreed to have this poem in the memorial garden there
- right where it belongs. Thanks to local poet Deborah Jones(c)

Guerilla Progress

Well, I posted (nearly) all the poems I'd sourced at the library and had permission to use, and all of the work submitted by local poets.

I also chalked words at Devonport Ferry Wharf and a few other locations. I loved the chalking - somehow made me feel very empowered.  The idea that I was graffiti-ing, and yet doing good not harm. Like good graffiti art versus tagging.

Next day the words I'd chalked at the wharf were gone.  I'm guessing that the 'empowered' security guard who'd asked me what I was doing decided he was bigger, better and more powerful than I...

However, words I'd chalked at the base of the clock near the wharf remained, and I added a few around the place. I'd like to do it again.

It's been great noticing which poems are still there!  And seeing people stop and read them.

Early removals were the other poems I'd tied to posts on the wharf.  The local real estate agent clearly did not appreciate the senryu:

house-hunting
terrified
i'll find one I like

and the local arty farty bookshop took down:

so much store in words
in my experience
the fewer the better

I'm assuming that it was the shop staff who removed these poems, and not a poetry lover who just wanted them for themselves!

I'd like to rerun the event, with funding, assistance, more chalking and perhaps some kind of daytime event to really draw attention to the poems.

Running it over the Christmas holiday works well in some ways since here in NZ it's the long summer holidays so lots of people are around.  But it's also meant that I felt pretty busy and basically failed to drum up any media coverage.

A spring version of the event would be good... watch this space.  And I'll post photos in the next couple of days.

Lessons in being a Guerilla

I went out on Tuesday night to post up the first batch of 'Guerilla' poems around my town.  I learnt several things quite quickly:

1/ Practicing how you are going to tie or stick the poetry up BEFORE heading into the field is a good idea, as is a quick lesson in knots.  I wished I had a few options under my belt.

2/ However large the print, once your poems are up, they look very small!  Experiment with coloured paper?  Bold font?  I certainly plan to next time.

3/ A friend of mine suggested using plastic raffia to tie my laminated poems up.  This works really well, and adds a bit of colour.  (I sourced it at my local $2 shop). The downside is - it's plastic.  I plan to use eco-friendly twine next time, and dye my own with paint, ink or food colouring if I want it colourful. (Unless you know the source, the process for colouring 'biodegradeable' string might be just as damaging as plastic....)

4/ You do want to make sure to cut the ends or tie a neat bow after knotting.  The first poems I put up are a bit messy - I think I'll go back and do them again over the next few days.

5/ Take pavement chalk with you, and a book of inspiring words/poetry that is not subject to copyright laws (old stuff, for example).  I really liked how my chalked words enhanced my own sense of the event, and if people don't see the printed poetry, they might see the colourful chalk words.   I also chalked the pavement/walls close to my poems with things like "STOP - POEM" and some arrows, and "LOOK BEHIND YOU - POEM!" on the sea wall when I'd tied a poem to a bench.

6/ Don't fear security guards - charm them!  But look out - I chalked some Wordsworth on our ferry wharf walkway during the evening (despite the security guard's doubt about my activity) - it was gone by next morning, which is really annoying and very stupid on their part.  All the other chalking I did that night is still there...  I'll be back, though, to chalk the wharf again.

I went out the next day to put more poems up.  It's more time-consuming than you imagine it will be!  Last tranche will go up today.

GOING LIVE

Hello Poets and Readers!


The first Devonport Guerilla Poetry event is going live this weekend!


Woo Hoo!


I've had a brilliant response from local writers, and all the publishers and established poets I've approached for rights to reproduce their work.  Publishers both here at home and overseas have responded promptly and positively to the event and my request to display poems.


Please come to Devonport to see the poems.  And perhaps find inspiration to pen something you'd like put up.  Or if reading the poems brings one to mind that you think should be included - by you or someone else, please do suggest it.  


Post a comment here, or email guerillapoetevents@gmail.com


Keep writing and reading.

Keep the poems coming

I've received some wonderful work from North Shore poets this week, for the Guerilla Poetry event.

Keep it coming!

As it's a busy season, I've decided I'll accept work throughout the holidays.  So don't feel you can't send something after 1st Dec.

The first, and largest, posting of poems will happen on 16th December, but any work submitted after that will be displayed.  I'll try to put poems up on a weekly basis.

Don't forget, the poem doesn't have to be written about or in Devonport, but should be appropriate to the location.

Check blog posts below for ideas for themes - they might remind you of something you have in your back catalogue that would be perfect to send in, or that with a little tweaking would be ideal.

Auckland North Shore Poets Please!

Any poem appropriate for the location of Devonport village, or sea front will be accepted for consideration.  Poems to be displayed around Devonport from 16th December throughout the summer holiday.

Post here as a comment, or email guerillapoetevents@gmail.com

You can visit Devonport and write a poem inspired by a specific location, or submit a poem (or several) that you've already written that you consider suitable.

Clearly the theme of the sea is applicable!  Other themes or subjects might be:

Pohutukawa
City view
Ferry
Wharf
Arriving / Departing / Journeys
Beach
Sea
Rocks and rock pools.
Boats
Anchors (there are a couple of large old ones on display here and there)
The Navy
Cafes
Coffee
Icecream
The horse wagon (we have a wagon pulled by two huge Clydesdales that traverses the village)
The Morton Bay Fig Tree (of fig trees in general)
Shopping
Fountain(s)

Any style of poetry, shorter poems preferred.

Poems for Gorillaz

Well, I feel like I'm just writing for myself, and maybe I am!  But never mind, because I am a guerilla and guerilla poetry in Devonport will happen with one or a hundred guerillas.

What I have mainly learnt in life is that if you don't do it, no one else will.  And if you do do it, perhaps no one else will, but at least you will have done it!

Hence, at 27 I went travelling around the world on my own. No one else I knew was doing it. There wasn't anyone else interested in coming with me - not even my long-term boyfriend at the time.  So I went.  I had a blast.  It changed my life. As a result of just doing it, I ended up living in not just a different continent but a different hemisphere, and subjecting myself to adventures I would never have thought would come my way.  Life may not always be coming up roses, but I relish the learning from every bump in the road I've ended up on.

Long story short.... due to an apparent general malaise on the part of local poets, or perhaps a lack of local poets, I have been researching existing poems that have resonance to places in Devonport, which will be displayed along with some of my own work.  Poets who have written in and around the area were my first port of call, but some of my own personal favourites will also appear.

If you're out there, poets, I'd love to receive your work to display in our unique and rather fabulous city village.