Showing posts with label ANZAC Poems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ANZAC Poems. Show all posts

Saturday, April 26, 2025

The Inaugural 2025 ANZAC Day Poetry Competition

---- Our Happy Hours are on Fridays commencing at 5 pm and we open on 26 April 25 also, why not join us, everyone is welcome. ---- 
Kym Milne, our newest Service member, who has done so much for us came up with the idea of running a 2025 ANZAC Day Poetry Competition and assisted by VP Patsy Biscoe, turned it into an inaugural event that we expect will continue annually.

Our Perpetual Plaque
Kym advertised the event and, we received numerous submissions from aspiring poets via email and post. A small panel of judges was assembled to assess the entries and this included our in-house bush poet, Maurie O'Brien who is a published author of his title, ANZAC Poems and Other Sprigs of Wattle that you can read about in an earlier post here

The judges completed their assessment of poetry and nominated two joint winners, both of whom are surprisingly only 14 years old: Su and Ryka.

Both read their poems at our Dawn Service and again at our luncheon for those who didn't attend the Dawn Service.
 
At the luncheon, each was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and advised that their names will appear on the above perpetual plaque when it is completed. The plaque will have a chain horizontally across the bottom with a suspended military dog tag indicating the competition and the winners' names. As a perpetual plaque, each year, another dog tag will be hung across the bottom suspended by the chain. Unfortunately, the dog tags have been ordered, but were not received sufficiently early to attach them to the plaque.

The winning poems follow:

 Stillness of the Dawn

In the stillness of the dawn, a bugle softly cries,
As we gather 'neath the sky with hearts both full and wise.
With heads bowed low and tear-filled eyes, we remember those who stood,
Brave souls who fought in distant lands, for freedom's greater good.

The spirit lingers in the breeze, on shores so far aways,
With every wave that breaks the sand, we honour ANZAC Day.
Through lines of courage, etched in time, their stories must be told
Of sacrifice and comradeship, of bravery oh so bold.

For every poppy that we place, a gratitude we share
To those who answered duties (sic) call, face the fight with care.
Yet in our hearts, a sombre ache, for lives forever changed.
The cost of war, a heavy price, for peace that they arranged.

So let us stand and raise a toast, to those who pave the way,
Their legacy of honour lives, in every word we say.
And though the years may drift away, their memory won't fade,
For on this sacred ANZAC Day, our heartfelt debt is paid.

By Ryka Dowley

1914

The sky was never silent here.
Even in the breath between the barrage,
we heard the ghosts of yesterday,
boots sinking into the mire,
missives folded tight against our chests,
names whispered like supplications to the dust.

The trench is a purgatory of waiting.
Of hands, pallid and trembling in the cold,
of eyes fixed upon the ashen beyond,
of home distilled to a flickering spectre.
A sunburnt crest, a wattle’s golden flare,
a scream of rage, a battlefield’s bloodshed.

They told us we would be legends,
that we would inscribe eternity upon the earth,
but the earth only swallowed us whole,
consumed our marrow, our bodies, our very names,
and left behind only stillness;
sprawling from the ridges of Gallipoli
to the fields where poppies dare to rise.

Above, the ethers simmered in a furious red,
like a cauldron brimming and roiling over,
churned with embers, blackened and bitter,
ash swirling like pepper upon the molten soup.

But the flowers remain,
carmine as the dawn we shall never behold,
soft as the hands we longed to clasp.
They do not wail, nor do they weep,
yet in solemn grace, they endure.
A requiem in crimson.

Lest we forget.

By Su Nguyen

We think you will agree that the poetry by these young ladies is an exemplar for others striving to be poets.



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Tuesday, March 5, 2024

ANZAC Poems and other Sprigs of Wattle Book

---- We have Happy Hours at our Hut most Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome ---- 
One of our members, Maurie O'Brien is a popular bush poet and author who wrote "ANZAC Poems & Other Sprigs of Wattle". 

Maurie was raised in a country town in the Mid-North of South Australia. He is well respected and admired for the strong delivery of his poetry at public events.

This collection of poems from Maurie contains many fine tributes to Australia's fellow veterans and pioneers with many humorous poetic anecdotes (see The Handbag stanza below). The collection will surely appeal to all those who respect and value the sacrifices made by Australians during the conflicts of World War I and II, whether at the front, behind the lines, or at home.

The Handbag
There are some things mysterious,
To the ordinary bloke,
Like the things your wife possesses,
About which you never joke.
Now, one of these is her handbag,
That just never leaves her side,
A deep, dark holder of secrets,
In which many things reside
.
I highly recommend this 102 treasure trove of poetry and humour that is a very reasonable price and available electronically (Kindle) or in paperback. You can find it here.

If you buy a copy, I'd love to hear what you think of it. Please comment below.

Robin Henry, Editor

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Did you miss our super soup night?

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm with meals on the first Friday of a month. Everyone is welcome ---- The super soup night on Friday, 2 June was one of the best attended, most enjoyable nights we've had for a long time after months (years?) of interruptions due to COVID lockouts and long-term construction and landscaping projects within the Tanunda Recreation Park.

Last Friday night made us feel as though we had put all that behind us and are now back to normal.

Our table setting at the Hut
Over 40 people attended and had options of four soups: pumpkin, mushroom, chicken noodle, or potato, bacon, and leek. These were accompanied by soft, tasty white bread rolls and of course a sweet consisting of apple crumble and custard or cream. Nobody was heard to say they didn't like the soup or the apple crumble.

As usual, a range of beverages was available at happy hour prices.

Making our night even more special were the presentation of cheques to three local organisations that provide services to us during ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day commemorative events, and a couple of poems by our in-house bush poet, Maurie O'Brien who has presented on several occasions.

Maurie has a collection of 31 poems titled, "ANZAC Poems and Other Sprigs of Wattle" that is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback versions. It's well worth a look if you're interested in poetry or military history.

On Friday evenings when the Hut is open and we aren't having a meal, we have a variety of snacks available, happy hour beverage prices including tea and coffee and plenty of friendly chat. If you live in the area or are passing through, please do come and join us after 5 pm.